Smith won the national 50m and 100m breaststroke titles, qualifying for the World Short Course Championships in both events.
Tatjana Smith at the SA Short Course Championships. Picture: Captured by Col/Swimming South Africa
Standing up as one of the top performers at GC Jolliffe Swimming Pool, Tatjana Smith was pleased with her comeback to elite swimming after proving she was still competitive at the SA Short Course Championships in Pietermaritzburg.
Smith was one of four swimmers at the national championships which concluded on Sunday who achieved the automatic qualifying standards for the World Short Course Championships to be held in December.
The four-time Olympic medallist, returning to competition after retiring in 2024, won the national 50m breaststroke title in a personal best 29.50 seconds, and she went on to win gold in the 100m breaststroke final in 1:04.00, just 0.11 outside her own national short course record.
Though she set the fastest time in the 200m breaststroke heats (2:23.27), Smith withdrew from the final because she was focusing on shorter distances as she set her sights on the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Despite concentrating on the 50m sprint, the 29-year-old breaststroke specialist said she would also compete in the 100m event in Beijing after dipping under the A-standard qualifying times in both events.
And while the former 100m and 200m star admitted she needed to get used to the 50m race, she was satisfied with her performances in Pietermaritzburg.
“It was the first race in a new event, so there are a lot of things going on in your mind, and it’s not a space where you feel comfortable, like I used to be in my 200m,” Smith said.
“So I was very surprised with that time (in the 50m final), especially because I didn’t feel like I executed it that well… but I didn’t do so bad. Not bad at all.”
Other World Champs qualifiers
Other swimmers who achieved automatic World Championships qualifiers in Pietermaritzburg included Michael Houlie, who stopped the clock at 26.15 in the men’s 50m breaststroke and 57.30 in the 100m breaststroke, as well as Chris Smith, who secured silver in the men’s 50m breaststroke in 29.21.
Duné Coetzee, competing in front of her home crowd following a recent move to Pietermaritzburg, met the A standard in the 400m freestyle heats, setting the fastest time of 4:05.54, and she went on to win the title in 4:06.29.
Meanwhile, 15 other swimmers – Matthew Caldwell, Jarden Eaton, Kaydn Naidoo, Armand Landmann, Guy Brooks, Shaun Thomas, Mila van der Linde, Abigail Kotze, Anje van As, Georgia Nel, Sofia French, Grace Morris, Callan Lotter, Stephanie Houtman and Corné van Schalkwyk – achieved the B qualifying standards for the World Championships, and while this did not guarantee them places in the national team, they could be available for selection.
In para swimming events at the national championships, Kat Swanepoel broke multiple national records in the S5 class, with the former world champion winning the 100m backstroke in 1:47.98 and the 50m freestyle in 43.49.
