Swimming star Tatjana Smith retires after claiming historic Olympic medal

Having competed at international level for more than a decade, Tatjana Smith said she looked forward to focusing on her personal life, announcing her retirement as a professional swimmer just moments after making history at the Paris Olympics on Thursday night.

Smith grabbed the silver medal in the 200m breaststroke final, closing out her career as South Africa’s most decorated Olympian with four career medals at the Games, including two gold and two silver.

The 27-year-old swimmer put up a fight in the 200m final, as she had done when she won gold in the 100m breaststroke earlier in the week, but she was edged out by American opponent Kate Douglass.

“I love competing and I couldn’t have asked for a better way to end off my career, in a tough battle,” Smith said afterwards.

Bringing people joy

The South African star, who got married late last year, said she had enjoyed her career but she wanted to concentrate on other aspects of her life.

“Achievements fall away and you want to be remembered for who you are,” said Smith, who also secured three career medals at the World Swimming Championships and four medals at the Commonwealth Games.

“I hope that I’m remembered for bringing people joy and just telling the story that swimming is really just a season in your life. There’s so much more than swimming, and I’m excited to live life.”

Coetze satisfied with record

Meanwhile, 20-year-old Pieter Coetze admitted he was disappointed to miss the podium in the men’s 200m backstroke, though he was pleased to have broken the African record.

Coetze, who was fifth in the 100m backstroke three days earlier, took seventh place over four lengths of the pool in 1:55.60, breaking the 15-year-old African record of 1:55.75 held by George du Rand.

“I tried to go in with no expectations, but at the back of my mind there’s always the goal of getting a medal, so I’m a little disappointed,” Coetze said.

“But I can’t be sad about it because I still swam a personal best. The guys went pretty fast and I definitely felt that one. It really burned.”