STROKE OF STARDOM: Coach Rocco Meiring’s formula fuels swimmer Pieter Coetzé’s rise

Swimming sensation Pieter Coetzé’s world-record swim at the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup, which concluded on 17 October, was not part of coach Rocco Meiring’s plan.

With the competition being right in the middle of the Commonwealth Games, which ended in August, and the World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25m) in December, Meiring thought it might prove disruptive to their training schedule.

However, Coetzé felt he needed more ­racing and insisted on competing in the three-week World Cup. It was a decision that, in hindsight, Meiring admitted was the right one to make. The 22-year-old dominated in the pool, securing his maiden World Cup title and ­finishing first in the overall standings of the three-leg tournament with a haul of 10 ­medals.

This dominant spell included Coetzé also breaking the 50m backstroke world record on 9 October, swimming 22.09 ­seconds in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, to eclipse Russian Kliment Kolesnikov’s record of 22.11 set in 2022.Coetzé further claimed two Triple Crowns, meaning he won gold in both the 100m and 200m backstroke in all three legs of the World Cup.

“I’ll cherish this one forever,” Coetzé said after winning the World Cup title. “This one is hard work because it’s three weeks that you keep it consistent and stay focused. If I compare it to other races, it’s probably the hardest I’ve had to work for this achievement.”

A steady rise to dominance

The backstroke swimmer has often been cited as the future of men’s swimming in South Africa since his debut appearance at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, where he became South Africa’s youngest swimmer to compete at the Games.

His recent success has been years in the making, according to Meiring, who first began coaching Coetzé when he was 16.

Coetzé’s previous coach approached ­Meiring, believing the swimmer had outgrown the programme and needed a bigger and faster training environment. With ambitions of competing at the highest level, Coetzé and his mother moved from Rustenburg to Pretoria.

Meiring, who already knew of Coetzé, agreed to take him on. “They say some talent shouts and some talent whispers. It wasn’t difficult to pick up Pieter. He was a standout,” he said.

It was not long before Meiring also discovered how driven and determined Coetzé was. The teenager and his family had their sights set on the Tokyo Olympics, which were fast approaching.

Initially, Meiring was hesitant about pursuing Olympic qualification so early in Coetzé’s development. Preparing for the Games requires years of intense effort and work, and pushing a swimmer before they are physically and mentally ready can do more harm than good. However, Coetzé refused to give up on his goal and, after missing the qualifying time on three attempts, he eventually achieved it on his fourth.

“The danger does not lie in going to the Olympics to get experience,” said Meiring. “The potential danger lies in selling the Olympic dream to a high school kid and
the cost involved in trying to get that kid to qualify. If a swimmer is physically not ready for the intensity of the work that is required, you can break that swimmer.”

Coetzé’s early Olympic dream was short-lived, as he failed to progress beyond the heats in Tokyo. It was at the 2024 Paris Olympics that Coetzé truly had his Olympic experience, Meiring believes.

After making the finals for the 100m and 200m backstroke events, finishing fifth and seventh, respectively, Coetzé learned the difficult lesson of being so close yet so far. The Games also exposed areas for improvement, particularly his underwater work, Meiring said.

“Pieter came back bitterly disappointed and despondent,” he said. However, the disappointment shifted to renewed determination as Coetzé took ownership of the work required to reach the next level.

“Pieter is very competitive, deeply self-driven, motivated and determined,” said Meiring. “As an athlete, he has the ability to not fear failure. He’s one of those people who can really put everything on the line, which I can’t coach. I’m just lucky to have an athlete like that.”

Sticking to the basics

The progress since Paris is evident, with myriad championship medals and records under Coetzé’s belt, including his Commonwealth success in Glasgow, where he won three individual backstroke gold medals and set a Games record in each event, all under the tutelage of Meiring.

Having coached at the University of Pretoria (Tuks) since 1999, Meiring is considered one of South Africa’s most successful swimming coaches. His swimmers have included Olympic champion Tatjana Smith, Kaylene Corbett, Matthew Sates and Erin Gallagher, to name a few.

Each of his athletes has taught him something different about coaching, said Meiring. Where Coetzé’s talent shouted, Smith’s initially was a whisper, with each requiring different approaches.

“They taught me to listen to the athletes, especially as they get older. They taught me to be flexible and adjust my coaching style to suit the personality, if I can,” said Meiring. “They also taught me to be more aware of whether the match will work or not, because I’m definitely not everybody’s cup of tea.”

Meiring is reluctant to describe himself as a luminary, instead crediting the programme at Tuks. According to him, the university’s swimming programme focuses on the basics, emphasising hard work and ensuring that all the athletes remain in a balanced and normal environment.

“We don’t call ourselves a high-performance programme. We don’t use the word high-performance. We don’t use the word elite,” he said.

The programme offers swimmers access to multiple coaches, its university setting also providing access to qualified specialists including doctors, physiotherapists and strength trainers, as well as a heated 50m pool at altitude.

Importantly, the group is not made up exclusively of top performers, said Meiring. Swimmers at different levels train alongside one another, which helps to create a balanced environment. “You’ve got to be careful that if you have this sterile, elitist environment, the animal doesn’t start eating itself from within,” he said. “We’re a work-based programme. We’re very basic, very unsophisticated. We just put the work in, keep it simple.”

Meiring’s approach has clearly helped to retain Coetzé, who has been “aggressively pursued” by colleges in the US but opted to remain in South Africa, according to
his coach.

Upon returning to the Tuks swimming pool after his World Cup success, the pair now shift their focus to the Swimming Championships (25m) in December, and the longer-term ambition is to arrive at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics ready to challenge for a medal. DM

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