Swimming championships | Coetze breaks African record

MELBOURNE - Teenage sensation Pieter Coetze has broken the African record despite failing to secure a podium finish.

The 18-year-old claimed the fourth spot in the 100m backstroke at the World Short Course Championships in Melbourne.

He managed 49.60 seconds, just a hundredth of a second behind bronze medallist Issac Cooper of Australia.

The race was won by Ryan Murphy in a new championship record of 48.50, becoming the second fastest swimmer in the history of the event, while Italian Lorenzo Mora claimed silver.