Tatjana Smith looked like she had never left as she resumed her familiar spot on top of the podium at the SA Short Course Championships in Pietermaritzburg recently.
The event marked her return to racing after a two-year retirement. Smith called it quits after claiming her fourth Olympic medal in Paris in 2024 but announced she’ s coming back with a focus on a new event – the 50m breaststroke.
Dubbed the golden girl of SA swimming, Smith( then Schoenmaker) famously won Olympic gold in the 200m breaststroke in world-record time at the Tokyo Games in 2021 after taking silver in the 100m breaststroke. She then switched things around in Paris, winning gold in the 100m event and silver in the 200m. But she’ s never focused on the sprint event, which has been included in the Olympic programme for the first time for the LA Games in 2028.
While Smith never stopped swimming entirely during her retirement, she returned to proper training just four months ago, swimming under the guidance of coach Karin Hugo since moving from Pretoria to Cape Town. And she looked better than ever over the sprint distance on her return, setting her fastest ever time over 50m in a short course pool( 25m) of 29.90 seconds in the heats and then 29.50 in the final.
Speaking after the final, Smith reckoned:“ It ' s the first race, a new event; there are a lot of things going on in your mind, and it ' s not a space where you feel comfortable, like I used to in my 200m.
short course record), saying she will also still swim the event as an extra at international level.
“ I think with the 200, my focus was always to train for 200 and have the 100 kind of just there. So I think it ' ll be the same. The focus is clearly the 50, but I ' ll definitely have the 100 there. I think it will give me a good opportunity to race before the 50. The 50s are going to be at the end of the competition [ at the Olympics ],” she explained.
The 29-year-old also swam the heats of the 200m breaststroke in Pietermaritzburg, which she easily won in 2:23.27. After later withdrawing from the final, she explained that was purely to get some extra racing in.
“ The only reason I swim it is because I don ' t have time for any other events. But I can definitely feel like I ' m not training that type of stroke, and also, obviously, not putting in the amount of training for a 200, so that was the first and last time I ' ll enter it,” she said.
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Overall, Smith was thrilled with how her first meet back had transpired.
“ I think very happy. Obviously, there ' s still a lot to work on, but for the amount of training for four months that I ' ve been actually focused, I ' m very surprised with where I am. So, I think out of this week, if I can just take the confidence out of it, then I ' m very happy. So, I can be a bit more confident in going into the speed events.”
The plan now is to compete at the World Short Course Championships in Beijing, China from 1-6 December – after qualifying for the event in both the 50m and 100m breaststroke. And while it would be great to excel there, the focus is very much on long course competition( in a 50m pool) in the build-up to the LA Olympics in 2028.
The other South African star who will be hoping to do the same is Lara van Niekerk, who successfully defended her 50m breaststroke title at the Commonwealth Games this year and holds the SA record for the event. Smith said she was excited to learn from the 23-year-old.
“ Lara aces the 50, and I mean, her PBs are so fast. I think it ' s going to be so cool to be able to learn from her, because she ' s a pro in the 50. So, it ' s going to be fun, and I think we ' re always encouraging each other, and just as much fun as Kaylene [ Corbett ] and I had in the 200m, now Lara and I can have the same fun in the 50m.”
“ So I was very surprised with that time, especially because I didn ' t feel like I executed it that well … But I didn ' t do so bad. Not bad at all. Two PBs in one day, so very happy.”
She then went on to claim gold in the 100m event as well in a time of 1:04.00( just 11 hundredths of a second off her own national
Also in the mix
Others who excelled at the SA Short Course Championships in Pietermaritzburg and now have their sights set on the world championships in China later this year were Michael Houlie, who qualified in both the 50 and 100m breaststroke, Chris Smith( 50m breaststroke), Duné Coetzee( 400m freestyle) and 18-year-old Armand Landmann.“ There are no words for me … I ' m really excited,” said an elated Landmann after achieving the qualifying time in the 50m freestyle and booking his ticket to the world champs for the first time.
Armand Landmann
Michael Houlie
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