The SA National Swimming Championships in Gqeberha came to an end with seven swimmers having achieved qualifying times for the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore this July.
Leading the pack was Pieter Coetzé (Top image) who achieved the cut in four events. The fourth of those was accomplished on the final night of competition after cruising to victory in the 200m backstroke in a time of 1 minute 56.07.
“Mission accomplished,” said a pleased Coetzé afterwards. “I just wanted to qualify, get it done. Obviously it would have been nice to be with a bit faster… but I think I'm in a very good spot for this time of the year because I also don't want to peak now. I want to go overseas and perform there, so I think this is a very good base and things are looking good.”
Coetzé finished joint top of the men’s medal table with five individual golds, having won the 50, 100 and 200m backstroke as well as the 50 and 100m freestyle. Joining him on five titles was Matt Sates, who took victories in the 200m freestyle, 100 and 200m butterfly and the 200 and 400m individual medley.
Meanwhile, also adding her name to the team list for Singapore was Erin Gallagher (Image below) who dipped under the required time in the morning heats of the 50m butterfly. She finished in 25.93 seconds and then chose to skip the evening final, which was won by 17-year-old Jessica Thompson in a time of 26.47 seconds.
“I was very, very happy. I remember touching the wall, turning around and seeing a 25.9 and just saying ‘thank you, Jesus’ because I had no idea how this morning was going to go,” said Gallagher, who missed out on qualifying in the 100m butterfly on Saturday.
“The year after the Olympics is very much an experimental year. You have no idea what's going to happen, what's going to go down, your body is still kind of recovering from the hectic training leading up to the Games, so we just said this year we’re going to try new things, see what works, see what doesn't work,” she added.
Thompson admitted it was strange not having Gallagher to chase in the final, but she was thrilled with the win. “I’m feeling very tired, it’s been a long week of racing, so just happy to go a little bit faster than this morning,” she said. “I think it’s all that really matters, just cutting off those splits.”
Duné Coetzee claimed her fourth title of the championships on Sunday, making her the most decorated of the female swimmers. She won the 400m freestyle in a time of 4:11.29 to add to her 200 and 800m freestyle and 200m butterfly golds.
“I'm so, so happy with that swim. I would have liked to go a little bit faster and try and get a best time, but I'm really happy with how that went, and I felt like I executed the race how I wanted to,” said Coetzee who is flying back to the University of Georgia to complete her final exams in sports management before returning to South Africa to train in Pretoria.
Also racking up an impressive haul at these championships was Matthew Caldwell, who completed his sweep of the distance freestyle events with victory in the 400m freestyle in 3:54.96 on Sunday. The 19-year-old had previously secured the titles in the 800m and 1500m freestyle.
Other victories on the night came for Hannah Pearse in the women’s 200m backstroke in 2:13.13 and Joshua Emslie, who took the men’s 50m butterfly title in 24.30 seconds.
In the events for swimmers with a disability, Christian Sadie, Danika Vyncke and Nathan Hendricks all achieved qualifying times for the World Para Swimming Championships in September. Sadie finished the SM7 200IM in 2:38.49 while SM13 swimmers Hendricks and Vyncke finished in 2:15.54 and 2:51.60.
Sadie said he was delighted with his times throughout the week, considering he took two months off after last year’s Paralympics.
“I was very surprised coming into this competition because we didn't put too much emphasis on it,” he explained. “We weren't thinking I was going to get as close to personal bests as I did, but I’m super hungry [for the next Paralympics]. And knowing with the amount of work I've done, how far I've already come, knowing that the next three and a half years, there's a lot of time, a lot of things I can improve on.”
2025 World Aquatics Championships A qualifying times achieved at the SA National Swimming Championships:
Pieter Coetzé: 50m, 100m, 200m backstroke, 50m freestyle
Matt Sates: 200m individual medley
Rebecca Meder: 200m individual medley, 200m breaststroke
Kaylene Corbett: 200m breaststroke
Chris Smith: 50m breaststroke
Michael Houlie: 50m breaststroke
Erin Gallagher: 50m butterfly
Photo credits: Roger Sedres/Swimming SA
