Four South African swimmers achieved qualifying times at the World Aquatics Championships trials held in Durban last month.

Pretoria’s superstar swimmer, Tatjana Schoenmaker, led the way, swimming qualifying times in both the prelims and finals of the 50, 100 and 200m breaststroke. She achieved the latter in her fastest time since breaking the world record to claim Olympic gold in Tokyo in 2021.

Schoenmaker swam a speedy 2:20.35 in the heats and followed that up with a time of 2:20.30 in the final. That time ranks her top in the world this season.

The 26-year-old also achieved two qualifying times in the 100m breaststroke (1:06.71 and 1:06.10) and in the 50m breaststroke (30.62 and 30.90).

“I am very happy. I swam my fastest time since the Olympics in 2021. That was very unexpected, but I am feeling good. Sometimes you feel good and the results are not the same so I am just glad that the results and the way I feel are matching,” she said after the trials.

Joining Schoenmaker in qualifying in the longer event was training partner Kaylene Corbett who swam 2:25.12 in the 200m breaststroke final.

The other swimmer local to achieve double qualification in Durban was Commonwealth Games silver medallist and Tuks student, Erin Gallagher, with her victories in the 50m butterfly (26.08) and the 100m butterfly (58.11).

Meanwhile, several other swimmers have also achieved World Championships qualifying times at various meets around the world. Swimming South Africa are due to announce the team selected to compete at the 11-18 February event in Doha.

Do you have more information about the story?

Please send us an email to editorial@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.

For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites: Rekord East

For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram