Coetzé and Corbett crowned top swimmers as aquatics community honours excellence

South Africa’s aquatics community gathered at the Bombela Concession Company Annual Aquatics Awards at the Southern Sun OR Tambo on Saturday night to honour the athletes, coaches, and volunteers who excelled in the past season.

Coetzé and Corbett Named Top Swimmers
Pieter Coetzé was named Male Swimmer of the Year after a standout season, highlighted by a trio of backstroke medals at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, including a memorable gold in the 100m backstroke. His performances, backed by multiple African records, reinforced his status as one of South Africa’s most promising Olympic prospects.

On the women’s side, Kaylene Corbett was awarded Female Swimmer of the Year following her breakthrough bronze in the 200m breaststroke at the same championships. This marked a first major international medal for the two-time Olympic finalist.

Water Polo and Para Swimming Accolades
Water polo also took centre stage, with Mitchell Garreau and Boati Motau receiving the awards for Male and Female Water Polo Players of the Year. Motau was part of the South African team that competed at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore earlier this year.

A thrilled Motau said: “To be given this is the highest honour. It just shows all the hard work that I’ve been putting into the sport and all the love, blood, sweat and tears. So I’m really honoured and grateful, but this isn’t only for me. It’s also for my family and teammates.”

After a year marked by several more world-record performances, Minke Janse van Rensburg was named Female Para Swimmer of the Year, while Christian Sadie was awarded the Male Para Swimmer of the Year accolade after returning from the World Para Swimming Championships with a silver and two bronze medals, along with several new continental records.

Coach and Club of the Year
Rocco Meiring was named Coach of the Year after guiding both Coetzé and Corbett to global medal performances. Meiring’s efforts at the University of Pretoria continue to provide a major contribution towards South Africa’s high-performance pipeline, with TUKS also being named Club of the Year.

“I’m humbled. As I said, I’m not the coach of the year. I’m representing a coaching staff that are as much part of the award as anybody else,” said Meiring afterwards.

He added: “I’m very happy for the swimmers. We haven’t had a Swimming South Africa awards ceremony for many years and I think that’s important for the swimmers to be acknowledged, especially by their own federation and that’s a very important aspect that I think they’ve done well.”

Meiring's focus in the new year for his high-performance swimmers will be the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

SSA President Hails "Best Season"
President of Swimming South Africa (SSA), Alan Fritz, spoke about the significance of the event.

“The resumption of the Swimming South Africa Bombela Concession Company Annual Awards is a fundamental that underpins the success of the federation,” Fritz stated. “The past year has undoubtedly been the best season of SSA since our re-admission into world sports in 1992. Our athletes are most certainly leading the country’s charges for podium performances regionally, continentally, internationally, and at the pinnacle of sport, the Olympic Games.”

Fritz concluded by recognising the efforts of all involved: “The Annual Awards are about recognising those who strive for excellence in the pool and administratively. Swimming South Africa salutes all recipients of awards. Our goal is to create an environment that allows them to achieve even greater performances. Bombela Concession Company’s partnership with SSA is a clear alignment of organisational goals and values, and we are extremely proud of what we have achieved together as a federation and a corporate sponsor.”

Award winners:
Male Swimmer of the Year: Pieter Coetzé
Female Swimmer of the Year: Kaylene Corbett
Aquatics Personality of the Year: Aaron Putz
Male Para Swimmer of the Year: Christian Sadie
Female Para Swimmer of the Year: Minke Janse van Rensburg
Female Water Polo Player of the Year: Boati Motau
Male Water Polo Player of the Year: Mitchell Garreau
Diver of the Year: Bailey Heydra
Artistic Swimmer of the Year: Tayla-Jade van Huyssteen
Male Open Water Swimmer of the Year: Connor Buck
Female Open Water Swimmer of the Year: Callan Lotter
Coach of the Year: Rocco Meiring
Junior Coach of the Year: David Glover
Club of the Year: TUKS
Most Promising Athlete of the Year: Kris Mihaylov
Administrator of the Year: Janet van Huyssteen
Club Development of the Year: Fish Eagles (Gail Bohler)
Instructor of the Year: Vani Govender
Volunteer of the Year: Princess Xaba
Journalists of the Year: David Isaacson (Print), Ongeziwe Mjana (Radio), Siphokazi Malinga (TV)