Swimming stars from Pretoria, especially the Olympic standouts from Tuks’ swimming club, proved that hard work pays off at the South African Championships in Gqeberha last week by winning 64 medals.

The man of the moment was undoubtedly Pieter Coetzé. He qualified for the World Championships in the 50m freestyle, 50m, 100m and 200m backstroke. He also won the 100m freestyle

“Mission accomplished. I just wanted to qualify and get it done. It would have been nice to be with a bit faster… but I think I’m in a perfect 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 perfect base, and things look good,” said a pleased Coetzé afterwards.

Duné Coetzee claimed her fourth title of the championships on Sunday, making her the most decorated of the female swimmers. She won the 200, 400 and 800 metre freestyle events as well as the 200m butterfly. Coetzee was third in the 50-metre butterfly. With her times in the 400m and 800m freestyle, she exceeded the B-qualifying requirement for the World Championships.

“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 am really happy with how that went, and I felt like I executed the race how I wanted to,” Coetzee remarked shortly before flying back to the University of Georgia to complete her final exams in sports management before she will return South Africa to train at Tuks.

Erin Gallagher qualified for the World Championships in Singapore in the 50m butterfly. She did so in the heats.

“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 it was to go,” said Gallagher, who missed out on qualifying in the 100m butterfly on Saturday.

According to Gallagher 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.

Kaylene Corbett qualified in the 200-metre breaststroke for the World Championship. However, she still must decide whether she will compete as she is busy with her honours and is rebuilding for the 2028 Olympic Games

“Being at the start of new Olympic cycle, it’s good for me to be in a place where I’m still qualifying and still doing the times even though I’m not as rested as I would have liked to have been,” Corbett explained.

In the events for swimmers with a disability Danika Vyncke and Nathan Hendricks achieved qualifying times for the World Para Swimming Championships.

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