2024 PARIS SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES
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After a second consecutive Olympic experience where she reached the podium in both of her events, Tatjana Smith is ready to move on from competitive swimming.
The 27-year-old South African said the final of the women’s 200 breaststroke would be the last swim of her career after the prelims on Wednesday, and she closed this chapter of her life by winning her fourth Olympic medal.
The Tokyo Olympic champion in the 200 breast, Smith (née Schoenmaker) won silver on Thursday night in Paris, clocking 2:19.60 to finish as the runner-up to American Kate Douglass (2:19.24).
Smith still owns the Olympic Record (and former world record) of 2:18.95 set three years ago.
After winning gold in Tokyo, Smith didn’t get back under 2:20 in the 200 breast until this year, firing off a time of 2:19.01 at the South African Championships in April.
Earlier in the competition in Paris, she won gold in the 100 breast, making her finishes in the two events the opposite of what happened in Tokyo when she was the gold medalist in the 200 and the runner-up in the 100.
The four medals make Smith the most decorated South African Olympian in history, matching Chad Le Clos‘ tally of four medals, but with two golds compared to Le Clos’ one.
Speaking to the South African outlet Sunday Times, Smith said she’s in a “better space” than she was in Tokyo regarding swimming and the mental side of the sport after putting so much pressure on herself back then, but is ready to turn the page.
“It’s not my identity and it’s not who I am, it’s just what I do. There’s life after swimming as well.
“I’m not going to beat myself up because of this. I’m trying to enjoy it as much as I can. I probably won’t be swimming any longer. I have two more races to go and then I’m done,” she said after the 200 breast prelims.
Smith reaffirmed her retirement after the final of the 200 breast.
🇿🇦 Tatjana Smith announces her retirement from swimming after a SILVER medal performance in her final 200M breast stroke
Her two Olympics resulted in:
🥇100M Breaststroke (2024)
🥇200M BS (2020)
🥈200M BS (2024)
🥈100M BS (2020)An incredible career from South Africa’s aqua… pic.twitter.com/x1Xh4Qf94C
— Byron Lindeque (@TheModelManiac) August 1, 2024
Smith first burst onto the major international stage in 2018, winning double breaststroke gold at the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast. She claimed silver in the 200 breast at the 2019 World Championships, and then reached new heights in Tokyo by becoming Olympic champion in the 200 and the silver medalist in the 100 breast.
After taking a bit of a hiatus from high-level competition post-Tokyo, resurfacing for the 2022 Commonwealth Games and repeating as the 200 breast champion and winning silver in the 100 breast, she won her first and only world title in the 200 breast at the 2023 World Championships in Fukuoka.
She also won the World University Games title in the 100 and 200 breast in 2019, and when she won 200-meter gold in Fukuoka, she became the first swimmer since 1992 to hold the Olympic, LC World Championship and World University Games gold medals in the same event.
Her victory in Tokyo also made her the first South African woman to win swimming gold at the Olympics since Penny Heyns in 1996.
So glad she got a gold at this last meet. She’s got a lot to be proud of! I’m sure her teammates will be sad not to see her on the pool deck anymore.
One of those people who is a great athlete, yet somehow manages to come off as an even better person. Here’s wishing her lots of fulfillment in her post-competition life.
I wish Tatjana wasn’t retiring bc that would be a great rivalry to follow with KD the next four years, kind of like Regan v Kaylee.
Here was a tweet from the great goggleless wonder, Penny Heyns, after Tatjana’s 200:
“Great effort from Tatjana and a swim she can be proud of. It may be silver but she still holds the Olympic record. I love her humility and good sportsmanship. She is a great role model for young athletes to emulate.”
Of note: Penny Heyns almost won 4 medals too (albeit hers would’ve been 3 indiv/1 relay) but the cheatin’ Chinese in ATL 1996 caught South Africa’s medley relay on the free leg and won by less than a… Read more »
Legend! The rainbow nation should be immensely proud.
2 gold and 2 silver over these past 2 Olympics. Legend.
One of the most unconventional yet beautiful strokes the world has seen. A class act and an all-time legend!
Parabéns pra ela uma nadadora incrível conquistou tudo que a natação podia lhe dá campeão olímpico e mundial .
Thank you for all the fine memories, Queen, and best of luck in all your future endeavours!