Tatjana and others shown us dreams are attainable

As we celebrate the triumph of Tatjana Schoenmaker’s gold medal and world record performance in the swimming pool at the Tokyo Olympics yesterday, spare a little thought for the men’s rowing fraternity in Great Britain, which recorded its worst Games performance in 49 years.

Why should we concern ourselves with the mere two medals – one silver and one bronze – that the Brits take home? Well, they spent more than R500 million on their sport and team in the past four years preparing for Tokyo.

Tatjana, and the rest of Team SA, effectively performed on the proverbial smell of an oil rag … and many paid out of their own pockets to just be at the Games.

That has been the story of our performances over the years on the international stage. We have won medals, cups, championships – and set world records – not because of our government, but in spite of it.

Take our men’s hockey team in Tokyo – most are amateurs and many have been paying their own way to represent our country for years. It is true that government funds are tight and that sport should, rightly, have a lower priority than things like education, health and decent living conditions.

Yet, the taxpayer money wasted – or stolen – by this government, could have been invested in training and exposing a whole new generation of sportsmen and women.

Schoenmaker and other swimmers like her have to train abroad and be financially supported, often by family and friends.

There is little money in swimming to expose kids in disadvantaged communities to the sport and, at the same time, provide them with life-long skills which actually might save their lives.

Imagine that world … where other countries complain about us hogging the medals. It’s a dream – but Tatjana and others have shown us it is attainable.