South Africa's Pieter Coetze pictured competing in the semi-final of the men's 200m backstroke at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. South Africa's Pieter Coetze pictured competing in the semi-final of the men's 200m backstroke at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Picture: Sebastien Bozon / AFP
A personal best time in Thursday night’s backstroke final won’t matter for Team South Africa’s Pieter Coetze unless it’s accompanied by a medal.
Coetze is one of three of three South Africans fighting for a place on the podium in the pool on Thursday. Tatjana Smith and Kaylene Corbett have also qualified for the 200 breaststroke final.
It will be the 20-year-old Coetze’s second final this week after finishing fifth with a personal best time in the 100m backstroke. It went a little unnoticed, though, after Tatjana Smith heroics in the pool when she grabbed the gold in the 100m breaststroke on the same night.
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— SABC Sport (@SABC_Sport) July 31, 2024
🇿![CDATA[]]>🇦 #TeamSA's Pieter Coetze won heat 2 in the #Swimming Men's 200M Backstroke to secure a spot in the semi-finals! #SABCSportOlympics #Paris2024 #Olympics pic.twitter.com/GafjFe7CRn
But now Coetzee is aiming for a medal, having qualified as the third fastest swimmer from the two semi-finals. He can put his own name in lights in Paris.
For Coetze, however, it won’t matter if he swims a personal best time or not, as long as he gets on that podium.
“Everyone's always talking about times, but I can promise you none of these swimmers care about their times,” said Coetze.
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— SABC Sport (@SABC_Sport) July 29, 2024
🇿![CDATA[]]>🇦 #TeamSA's Pieter Coetze finished 5th in the #Swimming Men's 100M Backstroke Final.
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“Maybe in the back of their minds they do, but they’d rather swim a slower time and win a medal than swim their PB.
“Speaking for myself, swim the PB and get fifth place, I would rather swim slow and get a medal. You just never know what to expect, I'm just going to let it happen.”
Coetze’s 200m backstroke final is scheduled for 8.38pm on Thursday night, while Smith and Corbett are set to compete in the 200m breaststroke final at 9.11pm.
@JohnGoliath82