Tashkent marks world record No. 199 in a Myrtha pool

South Africa’s Pieter Coetze won the men’s 50m backstroke in Tashkent on Friday, clocking a new world record of 22.09. The 22-year-old lowered the previous mark of 22.11, set by Russia’s Kliment Kolesnikov in 2022, taking the total number of world records set in Myrtha pools to 199.

The swim also bettered the World Cup record of 22.23, set by Russia’s Egor Kornev in Baku a week earlier. The 2026 World Aquatics Swimming World Cup, known as the Silk Road Tour, runs through Baku (1–3 October), Tashkent (8–10 October) and Astana (15–17 October). All three stops are staged in Myrtha pools.

Tashkent’s recently completed aquatic centre hosts the second stop, with two 50m pools, one for competition and one for warm-up, alongside a diving pool.

The tally reached 198 in Baku on 2 October, when Kornev equalled the men’s 100m freestyle short-course world record of 44.84. The latest result in Tashkent adds one more. With the final stop in Astana still to come, the 200th world record is within reach.