Five things to know about Olympic swimming sensation Tatjana Smith

If she wasn’t already a household name in South Africa, Tatjana Smith certainly is now, after storming to victory in the 100m breaststroke final at the Olympic Games in Paris on Monday.

All eyes will again be on the breaststroke specialist on Thursday night, as she aims to defend her Olympic title in the 200m final.

Here’s a few things you might now know about the 27-year-old swimming star.

Training group

Though she was born in Joburg, Smith has been based in Pretoria throughout her elite career.

A former student at the University of Pretoria, where she earned a BCom degree in financial sciences, she remains part of the training group she joined while studying in the capital city.

And it’s a phenomenal group of swimmers. Coached by Rocco Meiring, Smith trains with the likes of World Championships medallist Pieter Coetze, fellow Olympic finalist Kaylene Corbett, and national record holders Erin Gallagher and Matthew Sates.

Expanding family

Smith wasn’t always a Smith. She was Tatjana Schoenmaker until November last year when she married Joel Smith.

Since taking that step in her personal life, she has seemed a whole lot happier, and she admits she is in a better space outside the pool after struggling to focus mentally on her swimming in recent years.

On her wedding day, she married into a family that also includes one of the most famous sport stars in the country. Her husband is the brother of Rachel Kolisi, who is married to Springbok captain and two-time Rugby World Cup winner Siya Kolisi.

Breaking ground

By winning gold in the 100m breaststroke final at the Paris Olympics, on top of the two medals she claimed in Tokyo a few years ago, Smith became only the second South African woman (after Penny Heyns) to secure three career medals at the Games.

If she earns a medal in the 200m breaststroke final on Thursday evening, she will join Chad le Clos as the only South Africans to have raked in four Olympics medals.

And with two golds (Le Clos got only one) she will become the nation’s most decorated Olympian of all time.

Medal winner

Though she is best known for her performances at the Olympics, Smith has a whole bag full of medals she has earned at international championships.

In 2019, in Gwangju, she became the first South African woman to earn a medal at the World Swimming Championships, and last year she won 200m breaststroke gold in Fukuoka, claiming her place in history as the country’s first female swimming world champion.

She has also accumulated four career medals at the Commonwealth Games.

Record holder

Smith has broken multiple records in her career, some of which still stand.

She set the African record in the 100m breaststroke (1:04.82) in the first-round heats at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and five days later she set another African record (2:18.95) to win gold in the 200m breaststroke final.

Her continental mark in the 200m breaststroke was a world record when it was set, and heading into the Paris Olympics it was still the second fastest performance of all time behind Russian swimmer Evgeniia Chikunova who clocked 2:17.55 last year.