TuksSwimming continues to set the pace in South African aquatics, with their swimmers racking up an impressive 62 medals, including 24 gold, at the 2025 South African Swimming Championships in Gqeberha.

At the forefront was Pieter Coetzé, who seems to have made winning gold his specialty. He bagged five individual gold medals and added two more in relay events, solidifying his reputation as one of South Africa’s top talents.

Among the women, Duné Coetzee stood out as the top performer, securing four golds and a bronze. Yet, for Coetzee, the highlight was not just the medals.

"I swam a personal best time in the 50-meter butterfly. What makes it exciting is that it's been years since I last swam the 50-meter butterfly. It was nice to swim in a fast-speed race again. Due to a shoulder injury, I couldn't swim butterfly for a while. I still believe that the butterfly is the event in which I will excel.

"I'm also quite excited about my 200 and 400 freestyle performances. My winning times of 1:59.09 and 4:11.29 are close to my personal bests. My goal with the gala was to see where I am and what I need to work on to be faster."

Paralympic swimmer Nathan Hendricks was also impressed by winning four gold and two silver medals in the S13 class.

"I'm happy with my performances. In each event except the 100m breaststroke and the 100m backstroke, I swam personal best times. My best performances were in the 400m freestyle and the 200m individual medley. I improved my best time in both events by more than two seconds. I swam so well because I believe an empty mind is fast. I think about nothing when I race."

Catherine van Rensburg, who won the Midmar Mile earlier this year, won the 1500m in 16 minutes and 39.99 seconds. With this performance, she exceeded the B-qualifying requirement for the World Championships in Singapore and qualified for the World Student Games.

"I don't believe I will participate in the Student Games because I was in the 5 and 10-kilometer open water events and qualified for the World Championships. The two events are just a week apart."

Caitlin de Lange won the 50 meters in 25.31 seconds, exceeding the qualifying B requirement for the World Championships. She was also part of the team that won the 4x100 meter freestyle relay and finished second in the 4x50 meter freestyle relay. De Lange was third in the 100-meter freestyle and the 4x100-meter individual medley relay.

"I was really hoping to go for an A qualifying time. That is why I have mixed feelings about these SA Nationals. I was happy I was on the podium in the 50 free and 100 free. Some of my relays were also quite good. But I was disappointed I did not PB and get that A qualifying time.

"The biggest lesson I learned was to be satisfied with the results but work harder to get to those times. I think I need to concentrate more on my back-end speed. Watching my races back, I see that's my biggest problem.