Both Tatjana Smith and Pieter Coetzé safely negotiated their way through their respective semifinals on day two of the swimming competition at the Olympic Games in Paris on Sunday, ensuring they’ll have a shot at reaching the podium in Monday’s finals.
A relaxed-looking Smith was first up in the 100m breaststroke, cruising to victory in exactly the same time she swam in the morning heat – 1:05.00. That sees the Tokyo silver medallist in the event through to Monday’s final as the fastest qualifier.
Ireland’s Mona McSharry was second quickest in 1:05.51 and American Lilly King third in 1:05.64, with Lithuania’s 2012 Olympic gold medallist Ruta Meilutytė surprisingly missing out on a place in the final.
“I’m just grateful to be swimming much faster times. That’s my fastest time since Tokyo but I think most of all, it’s not even for me anymore or about the time. It’s just really enjoying the experience and I’m having so much more fun,” said Smith after the race.
“I’m excited. I’m so glad to have a lane in the final. Obviously, lane four is a really nice lane. It’s a blessing but also sometimes not… you never know what to expect so, if you have a lane you have a chance.
“I know I’ve prepared as best as I could so now is the fun part.”
Coetzé was up next in the men’s 100m backstroke. He finished joint second in his semifinal, bettering the African record he set at the National Championships in Gqeberha earlier this year by touching the wall in a time of 52.63 seconds. That saw him through to the finals as the joint third fastest swimmer along with Frenchman Yohann Ndoye-Brouard, with only China’s Jiayu Xu and Italian Thomas Ceccon ahead of the duo.
“I wasn’t thinking about time at all going into this. I just wanted to make the final so to get the time is always nice but it’s not really about times here,” said a thrilled Coetzé afterwards.
“I’m just glad I made it back. At the Olympics, you just want a spot in the final because you can’t win a medal if you’re not in the final so you have to take it step by step and that’s how I like to do it.”
Aimee Canny was the only other South African swimmer in action on Sunday night. The US-based star had finished fifth in her 200m freestyle heat in the morning in a time 1:57.81 to qualify for her first-ever Olympic semifinal. She went slightly quicker in the evening, finishing in 1:57.34 to finish sixth but missed out on the final by just two places.
“It was OK, not a terrible time. I didn’t feel the greatest but I just tried to soak it all in and it’s an amazing atmosphere,” said Canny afterwards. “I think I was a bit all over the place, up and down and I think that broke my momentum a bit but it’s something to work on. That’s my first individual race at the Olympics so big wins.”
Swimming action continues in Paris on Monday with Coetzé lining up in the 100m backstroke final at 9.19pm and Smith competing in the 100m breaststroke final just after, at 9.25pm.
Photo credits: Anton Geyser/TeamSA
