Gold for Tatjana Smith in Paris pool thriller, Pieter Coetze gets fifth place

She is South Africa’s most successful double gold medallist. With two golds and a silver she eclipses Penny Heyns and tennis player Charles Winslow, who both won two golds and a bronze.

Another gold on Thursday in the 200m breaststroke, where she’s the defending champion, would make her South Africa’s most decorated Olympian.

With her performance in the 100m on Monday, it’s hard to see her not winning the longer race and joining Heyns as the only women to have won the breaststroke double at a single Games.

Pieter Coetzé lowered his African record to 52.58 sec as he ended fifth in the men’s 100m backstroke final.

He was 19-hundredths of a second behind the bronze medallist, Ryan Murphy of the US.

Italian Thomas Ceccon won in 52.00 sec.

Even so, this result could be a good indicator of a possible medal in the 200m backstroke. Coetzé’s underwater techniques have improved considerably in the past few months and if he gets the pacing right in the longer race, he could be dangerous.