Three South African female swimmers have achieved qualifying times at the World Aquatics Championships trials held at the Kings Park Pool in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal from 14-18 December, 2023.
The Swimming South Africa national meet is for swimmers to post qualifying times ahead of the federation’s announcement of Team SA for 2024 World Aquatics Championships, to be held in Doha, Qatar, from 2 to 18 February 2024.
Tatjana Schoenmaker led the way, swimming qualifying times in both the prelims and finals of the 50, 100 and 200m breaststroke – achieving the latter in her fastest time since breaking the world record to claim Olympic gold in Tokyo in 2021.
Schoenmaker swam a speedy 2:20.35 in the heats of the 200m breaststroke, and followed that up with a time of 2:20.30 in the final, both results faster than the 2:20.80 she swam to win the gold medal at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan ahead of Kate Douglass and Tes Schouten in bronze in July this year.
The 26-year-old also achieved two qualifying times in the 100m breaststroke (1:06.71 and 1:06.10) and in the 50m breaststroke (30.62 and 30.90).
“I’m very happy. I swam my fastest time since the Olympics, so that was very unexpected,” said Schoenmaker.
“But I’m feeling good. Sometimes you feel good and the results aren’t the same so I’m just glad that the results and the way I feel are matching.”
SA Swim Star, Tatjana Schoenmaker
Joining Schoenmaker in qualifying in the longer event was training partner Kaylene Corbett who swam 2:25.12 in the 200m breaststroke final.
The other swimmer to achieve double qualification in Durban was Commonwealth Games silver medallist Erin Gallagher, with her victories in the 50m butterfly (26.08) and the 100m butterfly (58.11).
Still in the hunt for qualification times but nevertheless pleased with her swim in Durban is Olympic semi-finalist Emma Chelius, who is also eyeing a place on the Olympic team to Paris next year.
Chelius says she’s ending the year on a positive note: “I was hoping for a slightly faster time (in the 50m freestyle) but I think it’s a good benchmark for where we’re at, at the moment, and nice to finish off the year with some nice, good quality racing.
“It was so nice to have everyone around me – a really strong field for the girls’” continued Chelius. “This definitely gives me a lot of confidence. It’s always nice to go through a solid block of training and then taper down and see what we can put together. It’s also really good feedback for what we need to work on in the Olympic year so we’ll keep building towards that.”
Meanwhile, several other swimmers have also achieved World Championships qualifying times at various meets around the world, and Swimming South Africa is due to announce the team selected to compete at the 11-18 February event in Doha early next year.
List of qualifiers achieved at the World Championships Trials in Durban from 14-18 December 2023
Tatjana Schoenmaker
50m breaststroke (Prelims – 30.62, Final – 30.90)
100m breaststroke: (Prelims – 1:06.71, Final – 1:06.10)
200m breaststroke (Prelims – 2:20.35, Final – 2:20.30)
Kaylene Corbett
200m breaststroke (Final – 2:25.12)
Erin Gallagher
50 butterfly (Final – 26.08)
100m butterfly (Final – 58.11)
File Photo Caption: South Africa’s Tatjana Schoenmaker (centre) at the medal ceremony for Women’s 200m Breaststroke finals at the World Aquatics Championships, Fukuoka, Japan, on 28 July, 2023. Schoenmaker swam faster qualifying times at Swimming South Africa’s World Aquatics Championships trials at the Kings Park Pool in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal from 14-18 December, 2023. Photo: Istvan Derencsenyi/World Aquatics
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