Night of the young guns as Pieter Coetzé, Aimee Canny win freestyle

Two young guns downed the veterans at the South African championships in Gqeberha on Tuesday night, both in the 100 freestyle.

Aimee Canny edged Erin Gallagher in the women's final and Pieter Coetzé saw off Chad le Clos in the men's race.

Coetzé went out hard on the first lap and then had to fend off Le Clos and Guy Brooks to take the crown. 

It was in the same Newton Park pool 11 years ago that Le Clos won the same event — the blue riband race of swimming — from veteran Roland Schoeman.

And this time a smiling Coetzé accepted the baton as he was congratulated straight afterwards by defending champion Le Clos, who turns 32 on Friday but still races with fire and ambition in his heart.

“I always love winning,” beamed Coetzé. “But to get the win with Chad in the race, Guy, it's looking good. It was a lot of fun.”

Coetzé touched in 49.12 sec, just ahead of Le Clos in 49.34. Brooks was third in 49.42 with US-based Kobe Ndebele fourth in 50.24.

Coetzé went out hard on the first lap, a strategy that paid off, though he had to work hard over the final metres.

“I felt it in the end,” he admitted, saying he couldn’t see Le Clos, two lanes away, closing in on him.

Coetzé, a medal contender in the backstroke at the Paris Olympics later this year, likes to test himself by mixing it up in other events. “I’ve been trying to do more races, [and] nationals is always a chance for me to do that.

“Time-wise I would have liked to get a 48, but we didn’t get a lot of rest coming into this. We’re thinking about Paris,” said Coetzé.

Nobody posted an Olympic qualifying time on the night, though that was hardly a surprise.

Matthew Sates, who scratched from the 100m freestyle, won the 200m butterfly in 1 min 56.99, outside the Paris standard, which he had already achieved last year.

Le Clos, who has yet to qualify in the event, which he won at London 2012, has requested to do a time trial later in the gala. He has already booked his ticket to Paris in the 100m butterfly.

Local selection standards require swimmers to compete at nationals and while preference is given to qualifying times achieved at the gala, swimmers can deliver them any time during the qualifying window that started on March 1 last year and closes on June 23. 

Canny got the better of Gallagher in the women’s 100m freestyle, winning their duel in 54.65, just outside her 54.60 best. Gallagher touched in 55.80.

Canny said this was good preparation for her main event, the 200m freestyle on Wednesday.

“It’s right on my PB, so I'm really excited for tomorrow. I've been feeling good in the water, so I'm very excited,” said Canny, who like Coetzé felt she had over-exerted herself on the first lap.

“I think maybe I went out a little too hard. I like to back-end races and I think maybe I could have gone out a lot easier and then come back harder, but overall it was a good time. I’m happy with it.”

Duné Coetzee won the women’s 200m butterfly in 2:13.97. 

On Wednesday there are likely to be Olympic qualification times achieved in the women’s 200m breaststroke, courtesy of Tatjana Schoenmaker and Kaylene Corbett, and in the women’s 200m freestyle and men’s 200m backstroke.

The fields for the men’s 200m freestyle and 200m breaststroke and women’s 200m backstroke are likely to struggle.

— Three disabled swimmers achieved Paralympic qualifying times on Tuesday. Christian Sadie (S7) and Nathan Hendricks (S13) made it in the 100m backstroke and Kat Swanepoel (SB3) in the 50m breaststroke. 

Swanepoel was disqualified for using a butterfly kick which her camp says is physically impossible. She went 59.12 in the heats and 58.04 in the final.