Chad le Clos put all his eggs in the 100m freestyle basket, opting out of his favoured 200m butterfly event on Tuesday evening, but still fell short of 19-year-old sensation Pieter Coetzé.

Pieter Coetzé (49.12) took first place in the men's 100m freestyle, ahead of veteran Chad le Clos (49.34) in the big race draw on Tuesday evening at the South African Swimming Championships.

It was a composed swim by Coetzé, who turned first at the 50m mark -- on track for an Olympic qualifying time.

However, the 19-year-old's second lap was more than two seconds slower but he was still quick enough to finish ahead of Le Clos, who was breathing down his neck, as well as Guy Brooks (49.42) who closed out the podium.

"I always love winning, but to get the win with Chad in the race and Guy looking good, was a lot of fun," an exhausted Coetzé said after the sprint race.

"I've been trying to do more races and nationals is always a chance for me to do that so to do some freestyle and to win is amazing.

"Time-wise I would have liked to get a 48 seconds (Olympic qualifying time) but we didn't get a lot of rest coming into this.

"We're thinking about Paris, so I'm really happy with it."

Sates takes gold

Le Clos opted out of the 200m butterfly - the...