Pieter Coetze won his second medal at the World Swimming Championships in Singapore this afternoon by finishing second in the final of the 200m backstroke.

Barely 15 minutes later, Kaylene Corbett won a bronze medal in the final of the 200m breaststroke—hats off to TuksSwim's head coach, Rocco Meiring, who coaches both Coetze and Corbett. So far, Tuks swimmers have claimed three medals at the World Champs. Coetze is the 100 m backstroke champion.

Coetze is certainly perfecting the principle of fast, faster and fastest at the championships. He set an African record for the second consecutive day in the 200 m backstroke. 

Hungary's Olympic champion, Hubert Kos, won the 200m backstroke in 1:53.19. Coetze was second in 1:53.36. The final is probably one of the fastest ever at a World Championship. Kos's winning time is one of the five fastest times ever in the event, and Coetze's is one of the seven fastest ever. The Tuks psychology student also broke the African record in the 100m backstroke. His winning time of 51.85s is one of the three fastest times ever. 

Kos and Coetze were in a titanic duel from the start. Coetze covered the first 50 metres in 25.88s and the second 50 metres in 28.66s. Swimming at world record pace. Kos was the stronger swimmer over the last 100 metres. Swimming splits of 28.60s and 29.95s.

France's Yohann Ndoye-Brouard won the bronze medal with a time of 1:54.62.

“Coming into this, I didn’t really expect to go that fast. This has exceeded all my expectations and it’s just a big honour to be in a race like that,” said an elated Coetzé afterwards during a pool interview.

“I kind of expected to be out very fast. I could feel that I was moving at a high pace, and I knew that I would feel it in the end, and I did. But it’s a big PB for me so I’m super-happy with the time.”

The women's 200m breaststroke was a duel between Russia's world record-holder Evgeniia Chikunova and Olympic champion Kate Douglass of the USA. The American won with a time of 2:18.50. Chikunova was second in 2:19.94.

Corbett impressed with the way she refused to give up. After the first 50 meters, she was in fifth place. Over the next 100 metres, she was fourth. Over the last 50 metres, she moved up to joint third place. She and Alina Zmushka finished in the same time of 2:23.52.

Olympic champion Kate Douglass of the USA took the gold in a championship record time of 2:18.50, the second fastest time in history, with world record-holder Evgeniia Chikunova second in 2:19.96.

“It’s been a really hectic year, and it just feels like it really came together when it should, so I’m just really, really stoked about it. I’m very, very happy,” said an emotional Corbett after claiming her first world championship medal.

“I just think that I gave everything I had, and I’m just really proud of myself with that performance.”

Meanwhile, Erin Gallagher added more joy for the South Africans, finishing second in her 50m butterfly semifinal to book a spot in Saturday’s final. The 26-year-old powered to a time of 23.39 seconds, bettering her own national record and finishing just one hundredth of a second off Egyptian Farida Osman’s continental mark. That sees Gallagher through to the final as the third fastest qualifier.

“I’m so happy with that swim. I honestly think I owe it to Pieter and Kaylene, my teammates, for winning medals tonight,” said Gallagher afterwards.