- Source: Tatjana Smith
Tatjana Smith (née Schoenmaker; born 9 July 1997) is a South African retired swimmer who specialised in breaststroke events. She is a two-time Olympic champion and the most decorated South African Olympian in history. Smith won the gold medal in the 200-metre breaststroke and the silver medal in the 100-metre breaststroke at the 2020 Olympic Games, setting Olympic records in both events and the world record in the former, and the gold medal in the 100-metre breaststroke and the silver medal in the 200-metre breaststroke at the 2024 Olympic Games. She is also a World Championships gold medalist (2023) and two-time silver medalist (2019, 2023).
Smith is the former world record holder in the long course 200-metre breaststroke and is the African record holder in the long course and short course 100-metre breaststroke, as well as the short course 200-metre breaststroke.
Career
= 2018 Commonwealth Games
=Smith competed at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, winning gold medals in women's 100-metre breaststroke (1:06.41) and the women's 200-metre breaststroke (2:22.02).
= 2021
=Leading up to the 2021 South Africa National Swimming Championships, Smith set a new South African record in the 100-metre breaststroke with a time of 1:05.89 at a South African Time Trials competition in Stellenbosch in February. On day one of the 2021 South Africa National Swimming Championships, 7 April in Gqeberha, she won the national title in the 50-metre breaststroke with a South African record time of 30.32, which was 0.10 seconds faster than the South African record time of 30.42 she set in the preliminaries and 0.10 seconds faster than the record prior to that, which she set in December 2020. On the third day of competition, she won the 200-metre breaststroke national title with a South African record time of 2:20.17. The fourth and final day, she won a third national title in an individual breaststroke event, this time finishing first in the final of the 100-metre breaststroke with a South African record time of 1:05.74, which was 1.66 seconds faster than silver medalist Lara van Niekerk. Her times in the 100-metre and 200-metre breaststroke, qualified her to represent South Africa at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
2020 Summer Olympics
Smith entered the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan as the number one seed and predicted winner of the 200-metre breaststroke. She also entered the 100-metre breaststroke as the number four seed.
In the prelims of the 100-metre breaststroke, Smith ranked first out of all heats, advanced to the semifinals, and set a new Olympic record and a new African record in the event with her time of 1:04.82. The Olympic record she broke was a time of 1:04.93 set at the 2016 Summer Olympics by American Lilly King. Her time of 30.21 seconds for the first 50-metre portion of the event set new African and South African records in the 50-metre breaststroke. In the semifinals, Smith swam the fastest time of 1:05.07 and ranked first heading into the final. In the final, Smith won the silver medal with a time of 1:05.22, which was the first medal for a South African woman in swimming at an Olympic Games since 2000.
In the prelims heats of the 200-metre breaststroke on day five of competition, Smith swam a 2:19.16, setting a new Olympic record, advancing to the semifinals ranked first overall and swimming less than a tenth of a second slower than the world record of 2:19.11 set by Rikke Pedersen. In the event's semifinals, Smith swam a 2:19.33 and ranked first, heading into the final. In the final, Smith set a new world record in the 200-metre breaststroke with her time of 2:18.95 and won the gold medal. Her world record was the first individual world record set in the sport of swimming at the 2020 Olympic Games. Her gold medal was the first gold medal won by an athlete from South Africa at the 2020 Summer Olympics and the first gold medal in an individual swimming event at an Olympic Games by a female South African since Penny Heyns at the 1996 Summer Olympics. Her teammate, Kaylene Corbett, also reached the finals, making it the first time since Sydney 2000 that two South African women reached the finals of the same event.
= 2022
=At the 2022 South Africa National Swimming Championships, Smith won the silver medal in the 50-metre breaststroke, placing second less than three-tenths of a second behind Lara van Niekerk with a time of 30.87 seconds and achieving a qualifying time for the 2022 World Aquatics Championships and 2022 Commonwealth Games in the event. She won the gold medal in the 200-metre breaststroke on day three with a time of 2:24.01. In her third event, she swam a 1:06.06 to win the silver medal in the 100-metre breaststroke, which also marked the third event she qualified in for the World Championships and Commonwealth Games. In June, she was named as one of twelve women on the South Africa swim team for the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
2022 Commonwealth Games
For the preliminaries of the 50-metre breaststroke, on day one, in swimming at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Smith swam a 30.76 and qualified for the semifinals ranking fourth. She qualified for the final the following day with a time of 30.94 seconds in the semifinals. In the final, she finished in 30.41 seconds and placed fourth. The next morning, she ranked first in the preliminaries of the 200-metre breaststroke by over three full seconds with her time of 2:21.76, qualifying for the evening final. She won the gold medal in the final, swimming 1.20 seconds slower than the Games record of 2:20.72 set by Leisel Jones of Australia in 2006 with her time of 2:21.92. It was the third gold medal for South Africa at the 2022 Commonwealth Games across all sports. On the fourth morning, she ranked second in the preliminaries of the 100-metre breaststroke with a 1:07.10 and qualified for the semifinals. She ranked second behind Lara van Niekerk again in the semifinals, finishing in a time of 1:06.43 to qualify for the final. In the final, she won the silver medal with a time of 1:06.68.
= 2023
=On the first day of the 2023 South Africa National Swimming Championships in April, Smith won the national title in the 100-metre breaststroke with a 2023 World Aquatics Championships qualifying time of 1:05.89 as well as a national title in the 4×200-metre freestyle relay, swimming the second leg of the relay to contribute to a final mark of 7:13.91. She won the national title in the 200-metre breaststroke two days later with a World Championships qualifying time of 2:22.44, finishing 2.96 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. She won the silver medal in the 50-metre breaststroke on day four less than one second behind the gold medalist with a World Championships qualifying time of 30.71 seconds. The final day she withdrew from further competition in the 400-metre freestyle after swimming a 4:25.27 in the morning preliminary heats.
= 2024 Summer Olympics
=Smith won gold in the 100-metre breaststroke and silver in the 200-metre breaststroke at the Paris Olympics, becoming the most decorated South African Olympian in history in the process, in addition to being one of the flag-bearers for South Africa at the closing ceremony. She announced her retirement from competitive swimming after her last race at the Games.
International championships (50 m)
a Schoenmaker placed 14th in the preliminary heats but chose to withdraw from the semifinal.
International championships (25 m)
Personal best times
= Long course metres (50 m pool)
== Short course metres (25 m pool)
=World records
= Long course metres (50 m pool)
=Awards
2018 Swammy Award: African Female Swimmer of the Year.
2019 SA Sports Awards: Sports Star of the Year, Sportswoman of the Year.
2019 Swammy Award: African Female Swimmer of the Year.
2020 Swammy Award: African Female Swimmer of the Year.
SwimSwam Top 100 (Women's): 2021 (#50), 2022 (#6).
FINA, Top 10 Moments: 2020 Summer Olympics (#4 for world record and becoming the first woman to swim the 200 metre breaststroke in less than 2:19.00).
2021 Swimming World: African Female Swimmer of the Year award.
2021 SA Sports Awards: Sports Star of the Year, Sportswoman of the Year.
2022 Forbes Woman Africa Sports Award.
Personal life
In February 2023, Smith confirmed her relationship with Joel Smith, whose sister Rachel is the wife of notable rugby player Siya Kolisi, via the social media platform Instagram. They got married in Robertson on November 4, 2023.
See also
World record progression 200 metres breaststroke
List of African records in swimming
References
External links
Tatjana Smith at World Aquatics
Tatjana Smith at SwimRankings.net
Tatjana Smith at Olympics.com
Tatjana Smith at Olympedia
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