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TASHKENT: South Africa’s Pieter Coetze set a new world record in the men’s 50-metre backstroke short-course event on Friday, clocking 22.09 seconds at a World Aquatics World Cup meet in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
The 22-year-old broke the previous record of 22.11 seconds, set by Russia’s Kliment Kolesnikov in Kazan in 2022. Kolesnikov also holds the long-course world record of 23.55 seconds.
The achievement marked the first world record of Coetze’s career. The reigning 100m backstroke world champion had come close to breaking the 100m world record at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow last July.
Coetze said he initially struggled to process the achievement when he saw his time on the scoreboard.
“Seeing that time on the board, it didn’t even click that it was a world record,” the South African said. He added that the realisation came a second later when he remembered the previous mark.
Kolesnikov also competed in Friday’s race but finished sixth in 22.88 seconds. His compatriot Egor Kornev took second place in 22.29 seconds after misjudging his finish.
Kornev had tied Australian Kyle Chalmers’ short-course 100m freestyle world record of 44.84 seconds in Baku last week.
Coetze said the record would not change his approach to competition. He stressed that swimmers at the highest level remain closely matched, making it important to stay focused.
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Kornev also claimed victory in the 100m freestyle final, recording 45.24 seconds. Australian Cameron McEvoy matched his time, despite Kornev reportedly dealing with a back injury.
McEvoy praised his rival and predicted that Kornev could produce an even faster performance in the coming months.
The short-course world championships are scheduled to take place in Beijing from December 1 to 6.
The 50m backstroke is also set to make its Olympic debut at the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
