Coetzé, Corbett and Van Niekerk hit speed in Durban pool

World junior champion Pieter Coetzé showed his speedwork is well on track with an A qualifying time for the Swimming World Championships in the 50m backstroke on the final day of action at the Grand Prix meet in Durban on Sunday.

The 18-year-old stormed to victory in 25.09 seconds and was back in Kings Park Swimming Pool a little later to record a B qualifying time in the 200m backstroke, winning in 1:58.34, just 0.27 seconds off the A qualifying mark.

Fellow Pretoria swimmers Kaylene Corbett and Lara van Niekerk also put in promising early-season performances. Corbett took victory in the 200m breaststroke in an A qualifying time of 2:25.81, almost 10 seconds ahead of her nearest challenger.

Van Niekerk swam an A qualifier in the heats of the 50m breaststroke, finishing in 30.65. Her time in Sunday morning’s final was 31.04, which still saw her finish a second-and-a-half in front of Corbett.

“I’m happy — especially with the Olympic qualifying time [in the 100m breaststroke]. The other events didn’t go as well as I hoped, like the 50m breaststroke,” Van Niekerk said.

“I still managed to go 30.6 which is actually good considering I haven’t done any front-end speed. I need to keep in mind that we are in hard training.

“Now I know exactly where I am in the training so it’s just a matter of getting that last bit of fitness and the front-end speed going.”

Rebecca Meder showed her versatility by claiming her third and fourth titles of the weekend on Sunday, taking victory in the 400m freestyle in 4:17.93 (though she had swum a 4:16.32 in the heats) and the 100m freestyle in 55.67. Both were B qualifying times for the World Championships in Japan in July.

Erin Gallagher finished second in the 100m freestyle in 55.97. She went on to win the 50m butterfly in 26.87. Both times were B qualifying marks.

“To be going those times just before nationals is a big confidence booster for me,” Meder said.

“So it’s just a matter of training hard in the next five weeks, getting in some mileage and speed and getting in some power and then seeing what I can produce at nationals.”

Others who achieved B qualifying times in the heats but not finals were Dakota Tucker in the 400m individual medley (4:49.87 in the heats and 4:52.67 to win the final), Clayton Jimmie in the 50m freestyle (22.88 in the heats and 23.01 in the final) and Milla Drakopoulos in the 100m backstroke (1:02.67 in the heats and 1:03.01 in the final).

Competitors will need to swim qualifying times at the SA National Championships in Gqeberha from April 12 to 16 to book their places on the team to the World Championships in Fukuoka from June 23 to July 30.

Earlier in the weekend Commonwealth Games champion Lara van Niekerk wasted no time in getting a World Championship and Olympic qualifying mark in the bag.

The 19-year-old from Pretoria swam 1:06.65 in the heats of the 100m breaststroke on Friday to dip under the A qualifying time for both the World Championships and next year’s Paris Olympics — though she’ll need to swim the time again at the SA National Championships to officially qualify.

With the finals of the meet being contested in the morning rather than the evening, Van Niekerk went slightly slower on Saturday but was still well ahead of the pack, taking the victory in 1:07.88.

Fellow Commonwealth medallist Kaylene Corbett was second in a World Championships B qualifying time of 1:08.89, but her main focus will be on the 200m breaststroke, an event in which she reached the Olympic final in 2021.

Also dipping under a World Championship A qualifying time on Saturday was teenage Olympian Coetzé who swam 53.92 for victory in the 100m backstroke.

Several swimmers also recorded World Championships B qualifying times on Saturday. Among them were Commonwealth Games silver medallist Erin Gallagher, Emma Chelius, Milla Drakopoulos, Meder and Hannah Pearse.

Gallagher claimed victory in the 100m butterfly in 59.59 and then pushed Emma Chelius all the way in the 50m freestyle. Chelius just edged ahead to win in 25.57 with Gallagher second in 25.73.

Meder took top honours in the 200m individual medley (2:13.94) and 200m freestyle (2:00.92) — achieving B qualifying times in both — while 16-year-old Drakopoulos did the same in the 50m backstroke (29.16) and Pearse in the 200m backstroke (2:14.12) finishing over seven seconds clear of the chasing pack.