Pieter Coetze made his choice – he wanted to stay home.
The South African backstroke star had committed to compete at the University of California at Berkeley in 2022, drawn to the idea of training alongside a world-class group there.
But by 2023, he realised that wasn’t the move for him. He decommitted.
“At the time… Cal was probably the best place I could go with all the backstrokers that they had,” he told SwimSwam. “The thought of training with those guys, having them to push me, was perfect.”
But as the time to move grew closer, Coetze began to have reservations and the weight of the decision to relocate to the USA pulled at him.
“It really can affect your career a lot,” he said. “Not only your career – you’re leaving your family behind, you’re leaving your whole support system back home. It was probably the biggest decision I’ve had to make up to that point.”
There were other concerns, too.
More practical matters, like the NCAA’s use of yards versus metres, and a schedule that would have put the NCAA Championships nearly on top of the South African nationals in April.
“After months of training for NCAAs, which is obviously super focused on, they’re not going to worry about South African nationals,” explained Coetze.