Tatjana Smith Schoenmaker

Tatjana Smith (née Schoenmaker; born 9 July 1997) is a South African retired swimmer who specialised in breaststroke events. She is a two-time Olympic champion and the most decorated South African Olympian in history. Smith won the gold medal in the 200-metre breaststroke and the silver medal in the 100-metre breaststroke at the 2020 Olympic Games, setting Olympic records in both events and the world record in the former, and the gold medal in the 100-metre breaststroke and the silver medal in the 200-metre breaststroke at the 2024 Olympic Games. She is also a World Championships gold medalist (2023) and two-time silver medalist (2019, 2023).

Quotes

• I have this slogan – I wish I could swim with a cap that says Swimming is just what I do; it’s not who I am.
• Achievements fall away but you want to be remembered for who you are, she said from Paris.I hope that I’m remembered for bringing people joy.
• Swimming is really just a part of and a season in your life, there’s so much more than swimming.
  • Tatjana Smith steps away from swimming as South Africa’s best,06 Aug 2024,By Keanan Hemmonsbey
• I'm excited to in the future tell my kids I used to swim there (Olympics) once. I am just grateful that I can walk away with medals. It is any athlete's dream.
• I hope my story inspires one person, and if that happens I've reached my goal. It's never about trying to inspire millions, it's about inspiring that one person to never disqualify themselves from the race
• The lane space is obviously crowded, so that could get frustrating on its own.
• But it really pushes you to grow as an individual. It helps you find your strengths amid this group because, at the end of the day, you're the one that's going to race the race by yourself.
• I swim because I love it. I also swim for a bigger purpose which is to use my talents to glorify God through my swimming
• The world has defied success as medals and records where success is different in my mind. And I think that is why I'm very easy to go back and never be hard on myself in terms of that. I just try and find the next thing to improve a little bit more.
• For me, the emotions were really because it took a village to get me to where I am. I know they would have been proud even if I didn't have a medal
• But it was really for them. I swam for everyone that's been there for me and believed with me.
  • Paris 2024 Olympics: Why South Africa's Tatjana Smith is swimming for a higher purpose,31 July 2024,By Ockert de Villiers
• Sometimes, us as athletes, we always strive for the achievements, for example to get better or reach a certain goal, and that sometimes takes away from the purpose and passion of the sport.
• At the end of the day, a happy swimmer is a fast swimmer, so if we maintain that passion, we will ultimately maintain our purpose. The characteristics that our sport teaches us is also so important – the discipline and the perseverance – they create characteristics within you that last a lifetime, long after your swimming career has ended.
  • 9 fun facts you didn’t know about Olympic champion Tatjana Schoenmaker,22 Jun 2023,By Xanet Scheepers