Schoenmaker breaks women’s swimming drought

Teenager Tatjana Schoenmaker became the first SA woman in three years to qualify for a major international championship in the pool on Friday, after sticking up her hand on the penultimate day of the SA Aquatics Championships in Durban.

The 19-year-old swimmer won her 200m breaststroke semifinal in 2:25.23, qualifying fastest for Saturday’s final and achieving the qualifying standard for the Fina World Championships in Budapest in July.

She was the first South African swimmer (excluding open water events) to earn a place in the national squad for a major championship since the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Meanwhile, in the penultimate round of the men’s 50m freestyle, sprinters Brad Tandy and Doug Erasmus also secured their places in the national squad for the biennial global showpiece.

Tandy was fastest in 21.99, with Erasmus clocking 22.39.

In the 100m butterfly semifinals, Chad le Clos touched the wall in 51.56, adding another event to his World Championships programme after dipping under the required marks in the 200m freestyle and butterfly contests earlier in the week.

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