Tatjana Schoenmaker will only test the waters on Sunday in Tokyo when she dives in to compete in the 100m-breaststroke during the Olympic Games.

Her coach, Rocco Meiring, is at pains to explain that the 100m-breaststroke is not their priority. There is only one goal, and that is the 200m-breaststroke final.

“Sine 2019, there has been an upsurge in the quality of women’s breaststroke swimming. It forced many swimmers to choose whether they want to swim the 100 or 200-metre breaststroke. As a result, it has become rare for swimmers to be competitive in both events. The training for the 200m-breaststroke is very different to that of the 100m-breaststroke. The only reason why Tatjana swims the 100 metres is to improve her speed over 200m,” Meiring explained.

During the 2019 FINA World Championships in Gwangju, South Korea, Schoenmaker competed in both finals. She won silver in the 200m-breaststroke and finished 6th in the 100m-breaststroke final.

Judging by this season’s results, it seems as if Schoenmaker can repeat the same feat at the Tokyo Games. The Tuks based swimmer is currently the fastest in the 200m-breaststroke, having swum 2:20.17, and only five swimmers have been faster in the 100m-breaststroke. Schoenmaker’s best time for the season is 1:05.74.

Meiring is, however, quick to say that statistics are sometimes misleading.

“We purposely tapered down for the South African Invitational Championships in April as I wanted to see what time Tatjana can swim when fully rested. I have spoken to many international coaches. It seems they chose to do the opposite. Their swimmers got to rest at most three days before they competed in their national trials,” said Meiring.

He does not think the current times are a true reflection of what could happen at the Games.

“It should be remembered that Tatjana has only managed on two occasions to swim times faster than 1 minute and 6 seconds over 100 metres. She will have to do so again if she wants to qualify for the final in Tokyo. Whoever wants to win gold will have to swim 1:05.30 or faster. Lilly King (USA) already has swum 1:04.72 as well as 1:04.79 this season,” Meiring remarked.

Meiring praised Schoenmaker for her dedication in the build-up to the Games.

“I don’t think Tatjana could have done any more than she has done. Her muscle mass is the highest it has ever been. During training, she has consistently been swimming fast times. She has also been utterly disciplined out of the pool. She has limited her social interaction to the minimum. For the past few months, she has basically been at her flat or in the pool or the gym,” he concluded.

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