South Africa’s Pieter Coetze set three championship records in Lima, each erased by the speed and energy of Ksawery Masiuk of Poland in the 50m and 100m backstroke events. Coetze raced to a new championship record, winning the 200m backstroke event in 1:56.05 . In his final race of the championships, Coetze led off the 4x100m freestyle real, with the South African quartet earning silver.
"I was nervous because it’s the last day, and it was my last race, and my body is more than a bit fatigued," Coetze said. "I’m very happy to have won this event on the last day of the meet. I was not expecting to swim that fast so it's an amazing way to finish. I am so happy that I got this win."
Added Coetze on his budding – and friendly – rivalry with Poland’s Ksawery Masiuk: "I have been following Ksawery Masiuk’s swimming results for more than a year and I know that he’s very fast. I think we motivated each other to swim faster and I am sure that we will race each other many times in the future.
"I hope to do big things in swimming in the future."
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