South Africa's Pieter Coetze Breaks Men's 50m Backstroke Short-Course World Record in Tashkent

Key facts

• South African swimmer Pieter Coetze set a new short-course world record of 22.09 seconds in the men's 50-metre backstroke at a World Aquatics World Cup meeting in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, surpassing the previous record of 22.11 seconds set by Russia's Kliment Kolesnikov in Kazan in 2022.
• Coetze, 22, is the reigning world champion in the 100m backstroke, and this was his first individual world record.
• Kolesnikov finished sixth in the record race with 22.88 seconds, while his compatriot Egor Kornev took second place in 22.29 seconds.
• The men's 50m backstroke is scheduled to make its Olympic debut at the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
• Egor Kornev won the men's 100m freestyle final in Tashkent, clocking 45.24 seconds, matching Australia's Cameron McEvoy.