Tatjana Schoenmaker unaware of sensation she’s causing at home

While South Africa was celebrating her historic performance in the pool yesterday, Olympic star Tatjana Schoenmaker said she had been so focused on the task at hand that she hadn’t even noticed.

There was adulation around the globe for the 24-year-old swimmer after she shattered the eight-year-old world record to win gold in the women’s 200m breaststroke final at the Tokyo Games.

Schoenmaker, pictured on the podium with her medal, admitted she wasn’t aware of the response back home during her spectacular Olympic campaign.

“I haven’t seen anything since the day I started swimming,” she said. “I put all notifications off on my phone this week so it was quiet and I could concentrate.

“I’m sure all the messages were good, but I only had so many days to focus on my racing and I have the rest of the year to reply to everyone and say thanks.”

Among those who praised Schoenmaker for her performances was Penny Heyns, the last South African woman to win a gold medal in the pool at the Olympics.

Heyns, who won gold in the 100m and 200m breaststroke finals at the 1996 Atlanta Games, referred to Schoenmaker’s performance in the 200m final as “the perfect swim”.

Though her younger compatriot had broken all her national records in recent years, Heyns was delighted with Schoenmaker, who also bagged silver in the 100m breaststroke event in Tokyo to close her campaign with two medals.

“You leave me speechless and make me cry. Well done Tatjana… so proud of you,” Heyns said on social media.

Schoenmaker said Heyns had stayed in touch with her and showed her support throughout her career. She was grateful to be appreciated by one of SA’s all-time greats.

“For her to say congrats is so special because she used to be an amazing swimmer and she has such a name in the swimming world,” Schoenmaker said.

Away from the pool, track star Wayde van Niekerk said Schoenmaker and surfing silver medallist Bianca Buitendag had done well to motivate the rest of Team SA.

By stepping on the podium during the first week of the Games, the 400m runner said both medallists had given the track and field team a boost as they started their hunt for medals.

Van Niekerk, who broke the 400m world record to win gold at the 2016 Rio Games, was preparing to line up in the first-round heats tomorrow, in defence of his Olympic title.

“When you see the medal tally starting to drift up, you want to make sure you add to that tally,” Van Niekerk said.

“We can continue building on that momentum, so the ladies have done well. It has been inspiring.”

– wesleyb@citizen.co.za