
29/07/2025
🇿🇦 PIETER COETZÉ CROWNED WORLD CHAMPION IN 100m BACKSTROKE – NEW AFRICAN RECORD! 🥇🔥
👏 Congratulations to Pieter Coetzé, who absolutely dominated at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore — winning gold in the men’s 100m backstroke and capturing South Africa and Africa’s first medal of the meet!
FULL RESULT
🥇 Pieter Coetzé RSA – 51.85
🥈 Thomas Ceccon ITA – 51.90
🥉 Yohann Ndoye-Brouard FRA – 51.92
At just 21, Coetzé shattered his own African standard with a blazing 51.85, edging out Olympic champ Thomas Ceccon (51.90) by mere hundredths, while Yohann Ndoye-Brouard took bronze in 51.92.
⏱️ All three podium finishers broke the 52-second barrier — a rare feat at Worlds.
🏆 RACE RUNDOWN & STATS
• Qualified third fastest in semis with 52.29, behind Hungary’s Hubert Kós (52.21) and Kliment Kolesnikov (51.26)
• Qualified third fastest in semis with 52.29, behind Hungary’s Hubert Kós (52.21) and Kliment Kolesnikov (51.26)
• Split breakdown: 24.95 / 26.90 — blew past Ceccon and Ndoye-Brouard after the turn
• Now tied with Ryan Murphy as the third-fastest performer in history, behind Kolesnikov (51.82) and Ceccon (51.60)
👏 Coetzé was in full control from start to finish — that’s a personal best, a new African record, and a career-defining moment. The young man is peaking at just the right time!
🌍 WHAT AN ACHIEVEMENT!
• First South African ever to win a world title in backstroke
• First African medal of the 2025 World Aquatics Championships
• Only the second swimmer in history (after Qin Haiyang in 2023) to win both the World University Games and World Championships in the same event and year
📍 Men’s 100m Backstroke – World Aquatics Championships, Singapore
📸 Photo by: Backpagepix / AFP
🎙️Story by JustPlainSport.com
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