If all goes according to plan, Pieter Coetzé will win his fourth Commonwealth Games medal on Saturday night in Glasgow.
The Tuks swimmer will, however, have to be at his best. The 50 metres backstroke is probably one of the most unpredictable events. Experienced swimmers refer to it as the "splash and dash". In the little over 24 seconds that the race lasts, no one can afford to make a mistake.
In a preview article for the Games on the SwimSwam website, it is written, "The men's backstroke events are some of the strongest events at the meet, and South Africa's Pieter Coetzé is looking to dominate his events as one of the top backstrokers in the world, and the only returning medalist from the 2022 Commonwealth Games. The men's 50 backstroke is one of the events that seems most up in the air in terms of the winner."
Still, it is predicted that Coetzé will win. The swimmer who could prevent Coetzé from winning gold in the 50m backstroke is Britain's Oliver Morgan, whose time of 24.36s is the 4th fastest in the world this year. It is interesting to note that 0.30 seconds separates the five fastest swimmers in the event at the Games. Coetze is not fazed about being favoured to win.
"I am not really bothered by what other people say or think. I am more confident when I swim well. The goal is to win three gold medals," the Tuks swimmer said in an earlier interview.
As a self-proclaimed racer, Coetzé makes no secret of the fact that when he competes, he swims to win. He is doing quite well. To date, he has won 10 medals (4 gold, 4 silver and 2 bronze) at the World Championships, Commonwealth Games and World Student Games.
Chris Smith is the other Tuks swimmer who may stand on the winners' podium on Saturday night after the 100m breaststroke final. SwimSwam predicts that he can win silver in the 50m breaststroke and finish sixth in the 100m.
Smith seems to swim his best when the lights are brightest; that's an excellent sign heading into this meet, according to SwimSwam.
Before the Games, Smith said, "When I line up to compete, I don't think about losing at all. If you do, you are guaranteed to fail. I know I'm good enough to compete against anyone because I've put in the hard work during training. So there's no reason for me not to be confident."
Tuks' Erin Gallagher won silver in the 50m butterfly at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. She has a good chance of winning another medal on Saturday night. According to the World Aquatics rankings for the event this year, she is the second fastest Commonwealth Games swimmer in the event. New Zealand's Hazel Ouwehand's best time this season is 25.55s. Gallagher swam 25.56s. Australia's Alexandria Perkins (25.60s) is the other swimmer to watch.
The Tuks swimmers who will be in action on Friday and Saturday are Hannah Pearse (200m backstroke), Caitlin de Lange (50m butterfly), Nathan Hendricks (100m freestyle S13), Danika Vyncke (100m freestyle S13) and Dune Coetzee (400m and 200m freestyle), Hannah Robertson (400m and 200m freestyle).