'Magnificent seven' monopolise SA champs with 23 out of 34 gold medals

Pieter Coetzé finished the South African championships in Gqeberha on Sunday with five individual titles, wrapping up his competition with victory in the 200m backstroke.

His 1min 56.07sec winning time was also inside the qualifying mark for the global showpiece in Singapore from July to August, lining himself up for four events there.

In the morning Erin Gallagher became the seventh swimmer to book a spot at the international competition, beating the standard in the 50m butterfly heats.

But she had to leave the city early to head home to undergo minor surgery scheduled for Monday morning.

That opened the door for 17-year-old Jessica Thompson to win the event in 26.47 to capture her second title of the championships.

Duné Coetzee won the women’s 400m freestyle in 4:11.29 to land her fourth title of this gala, the most by a woman.

Matthew Caldwell won the men’s 400m freestyle in 3:54.96 to claim his third title of the gala.

Joshua Emslie won the men’s 50m butterfly in 24.30 and Hannah Pearse won the women’s 200m backstroke in 2:13.13.  

But the man of the meet was Coetzé, who successfully defended the five national crowns he won in 2024 — the three backstroke events and the 50m and 100m freestyle races — to underline his status as the country’s top male swimmer.

Matthew Sates also landed five victories — the 200m freestyle, 200m individual medley, 200m butterfly, 400m IM and 100m fly — though he managed only one qualifying time.

In an impressive monopoly Coetzé, Sates and Caldwell captured 13 of the 17 men’s events over the five days of competition.

Rebecca Meder was the standout woman with three crowns and two qualifying times in the 200m IM and 200m breaststroke. 

Between her, Coetzee, Gallagher and Thompson they amassed 10 of the 17 women’s titles.

And when considering the men and women together, the magnificent seven multiple champions captured 67% of the titles on offer.

The seven world championship qualifiers this week were: Coetzé (100m backstroke, 50m backstroke, 50m freestyle, 200m backstroke), Meder (200m IM, 200m breaststroke), Matthew Sates (200m IM), Kaylene Corbett (200m breaststroke), Michael Houlie (50m breaststroke), Chris Smith (50m breaststroke), Erin Gallagher (50m butterfly).

But the team can grow with selectors likely to include B qualifiers.

Swimmers also have until the June 29 qualification deadline to achieve the standards.