Moving on: Tatjana Smith, more than just a swimmer

As much as she achieved in the swimming pool, Tatjana Smith will be best remembered for her beaming smile.

Embodying the type of sportsmanship that we would hope for from a national ambassador, her character as an athlete and a person has been best displayed not when she has won, but when she hasn’t.

At the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, Smith settled for second place in a surprise defeat to 19-year-old compatriot Lara van Niekerk in the 100m breaststroke final.

However, while she was held off by the teenager, she seemed more pleased with the result than Van Niekerk herself.

“It’s so nice to stand on the podium now looking at a younger swimmer taking medals. It is a privilege to share this moment with her,” Smith, then known as Tatjana Schoenmaker, said at the time.

“Hopefully there’s still a lot to come. I don’t know how long I will be on the podium, but as long as they (younger swimmers) stay on, it’s fine.”

Well-rounded approach

And that, in a nutshell, is Smith. Despite how good she was at it, she never took her swimming too seriously, and she seemed well-rounded enough that her career was not everything in her life.

It was always just a part of it, and after announcing her retirement on Thursday, she seemed delighted to be able to move on and focus on other things.

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“There’s so much more than swimming, and I’m excited to live life,” said Smith, who got married late last year.

At the Olympic Games in Paris this week, where she became South Africa’s most decorated Olympian by winning gold and silver medals in the 100m and 200m breaststroke (adding to the gold and silver she earned at the Tokyo Games in 2021) Smith spoke about the things that matter most to her outside the pool.

Family is very important to her. As is her religious faith.

After winning the 100m breaststroke final in Paris on Monday, she wore a t-shirt which listed all her closest supporters who had helped her achieve her goals.

The first seven names on the list were: God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, Joel Smith (her husband), Rene Schoenmaker (father), Renske Schoenmaker (mother) and Fabienne Schoenmaker (sister).

While he has spent much of the time in the background, another influential person in Smith’s life is the eighth person on that list, her coach Rocco Meiring, who guided her throughout her elite career.

Spectacular results

And what a career it was. Smith, based in Pretoria, will be remembered as one of the best athletes South Africa has produced in any sport.

At international level, she first made a splash at the age of 16 when she won six gold medals at the African Junior Championships in Lusaka.

Two years later she claimed three golds at the senior African Games in Brazzaville, and by 2018 she was a double gold medallist at the Commonwealth Games.

In 2019, in Gwangju, she became the first SA woman to step on the podium at the World Swimming Championships, and in Fukuoka last year she made history again as the first SA woman to win a swimming world title.

She was most impressive, however, at the Olympics, achieving gold and silver over both distances in her specialist stroke at the Tokyo Games in 2021 and again in Paris this week, becoming the country’s most successful Olympian in the history of the Games.

Smith also retired as the national record holder in both the 100m (1:04.82) and 200m (2:18.95) breaststroke events.

“The goal was always to give my best and to always try and improve myself,” she said.

“As an athlete you just want to see what you can get out of yourself, so that was always the goal. It was never for the medals.”

‘Bringing people joy’

It came as no surprise then when Smith said this week that she hoped she would be remembered for more than what she achieved in the pool.

Despite her incredible career, winning wasn’t everything for her. The inspiration she provided others was more important.

“Achievements fall away but you want to be remembered for who you are,” she said.

“I hope that I’m remembered for bringing people joy and telling the story that swimming is just a part of a season in your life.”