Rising star Peter Coetzee will aim for his first senior world title on Tuesday night after finishing among the favorites to win the 100m backstroke final at the World Aquatics Championships in Doha.
The 19-year-old prospect was second fastest in Monday night's semifinal, touching the wall in 53.07 seconds. He was just 0.03 seconds slower than American Hunter Armstrong, who finished in another semi-final race.
Coetzee had the fastest time in the first round heat of the morning session with a time of 53.32 seconds and looked ready to chase the SA team's first medal.
Meanwhile, Erin Gallagher finished seventh in the women's 100m butterfly final with a time of 57.83 seconds.
On Sunday, the 25-year-old broke the African record in his first round heat, clocking 57.59 seconds, just 0.05 seconds shy of his own continental record.
Other results
In other events in the pool on Monday, Lara van Niekerk was eliminated in the 100m breaststroke semi-finals, finishing 13th overall with a time of 1:07.25, and Matthew Seitz fell in the 200m freestyle preliminaries, finishing in 1:47. He remained in 27th place with a time of 98 seconds.
Mila Dracopoulos placed 26th overall in the women's 100m backstroke heat with a time of 1:02.80, and Stephanie Houtman placed 18th in the first round of the women's 1500m freestyle with a time of 16:35.39.
