Coetze sets another record as Team SA bowls pair stun England

Swimmer Pieter Coetze continued his Commonwealth Games campaign yesterday (July 26) by winning a second gold medal and setting another record, while South Africa’s women’s bowls team produced one of the biggest upsets of the day in Glasgow. Coetze stormed to victory in the men’s 200m backstroke final in a Commonwealth Games record time of 01:54:22, finishing 2.22 seconds ahead of England’s Oliver Morgan. After claiming the 50m backstroke title the previous day, the South African was on world-record pace at the halfway mark before comfortably securing another gold.

🎙️ Straight from the gold medallist. 🥇#TeamSA#ForMyCountrypic.twitter.com/ln6tfRuX8M South Africa added two more medals in the pool, with Aimee Canny claiming silver in the women’s 100m breaststroke in 01:06:19, while Olivia Nel produced the race of her career to take bronze in the women’s 100m backstroke in 01:00:09. Michael Houlie and Chris Smith also advanced to the men’s 50m breaststroke final after qualifying as the first- and fourth-fastest swimmers respectively, while Erin Gallagher booked her place in the women’s 100m butterfly final.

Caitlyn de Lange also qualified for tonight’s women’s 100m freestyle final. Green and Gold glory in the pool! 🇿🇦✨#TeamSA#ForMyCountrypic.twitter.com/VLKHQzjy7q Away from the pool, Jackie Janse van Rensburg and Thabelo Muvhango produced one of Team SA’s standout results by defeating previously unbeaten section leaders England in the women’s bowls pairs.

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Having lost their opening three matches, the South Africans bounced back to beat the favourites 9–0, 3–4, 1–0 after a tie-break. South Africa’s netball team maintained its perfect start to the tournament with a dominant 96–42 victory over Tonga, following Saturday’s opening win over Malawi. Rolene Streutker led the scoring with 51 goals, while Sammy Ngubane added 34 as South Africa made it two wins from two in Pool A.

FULL TIME: DOMINANT WIN FOR TEAM SA! 🇿🇦💥Team SA delivers a huge performance in Preliminary Round Pool A, securing a convincing 96 – 42 victory over Tonga! 🏐🔥#TeamSA#ForMyCountry#CommonwealthGamespic.twitter.com/QFfFyqbGiW Elsewhere, the men’s wheelchair basketball team secured its first victory by beating Wales 16–12, while the women’s side suffered defeats to Australia and Canada.

A great victory for Team SA as they secure a 16-12 win against Wales. 🏀#TeamSA#ForMyCountry#Glasgow2026pic.twitter.com/QtAswFwSc4 Attention now turns to today’s programme, with athletics getting underway for Team SA. Bradley Nkoana and Cheswill Johnson are scheduled to compete in the men’s 100m heats, while Prudence Sekgodiso lines up in the women’s 800m.

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