Tatjana Schoenmaker Leads Charge for Qualifiers

Places in the teams to represent South Africa at the World Championships and Commonwealth Games will be on the line as the country’s best swimmers head to Gqeberha for the SA National Swimming Championships next week.

Leading the charge will be Olympic champion and world record-holder, Tatjana Schoenmaker who will be looking to defend the double gold she won at the last Commonwealth Games in 2018.

“I’m very excited. It’s been a bit more tough than other years, just in the sense of getting back into things since everything has changed,” said Schoenmaker, whose life changed dramatically after claiming gold and silver at last year’s Tokyo Olympics.

“There are a lot of new responsibilities that came along the past eight months. But it’s been very exciting and I’m always up for the challenge.”

Asked about heading into a national championship as an Olympic champion for the first time, the 24-year-old reckoned: “It’s a bit crazy to think that that’s even true but luckily I just love racing in general.”

With the major championships, where she’ll need to be at her peak, still several months away, Schoenmaker isn’t expecting to be in the same national record-breaking form she was at last year’s SA Championships. She’s just relishing the chance to race alongside what’s fast becoming a world-class field of South African breaststrokers.

“I had never swum a PB at Nationals before – last year was the first time ever so I think that’s why you saw the shock on my face. Going into this Nationals there’s no expectation. I’m just focusing on my races. There are some fast girls, especially in the breaststroke. Kaylene [Corbett] and Lara [van Niekerk] are doing so well so I’m excited to see how they race. Not necessarily trying to beat each other – I think it’s just supporting each other to get into that team and then prove ourselves internationally,” added Schoenmaker.

Action at the Newton Park Swimming pool will get under way on the morning of 6 April and run until 11 April.

Photo 1 Caption: Olympic champion and world record-holder Tatjana Schoenmaker leads the charge at the SA National Swimming Championships as the country’s best swimmers look to earn qualification for World Championships and Commonwealth Games. Photo: Supplied

With editing by gsport