Tatjana Smith picked up where she left off, claiming another national title and setting two personal bests on her return to competitive swimming at the SA Short Course Championships in Pietermaritzburg on Thursday.
The Olympic champion announced her return to the sport with an impressive opening swim in the 50m breaststroke – her new specialist event – winning her morning heat in 29.90 seconds and then going even faster in the evening, 29.50 seconds.
Both times were under the qualifying marks for the World Short Course Championships place in Beijing in December.
“I think this morning I was very surprised. It’s the first race, a new event; 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 in my 200m,” she said
“So I was very surprised with that time, especially because I didn’t feel like I executed it that well… But I didn’t do so bad. Not bad at all. Two PBs in one day, so, very happy.”
Also booking their tickets to Beijing were Michael Houlie and Chris Smith, who both went under the required time in the men’s 50m breaststroke. Houlie achieved it in the heats before going quicker in the final to claim the title in 26.15 seconds. Smith was second in 29.21.
“I’m grateful to be racing on SA soil again and to be at this place. I haven’t been here in 10 years, and almost swimming in a way that just makes my younger self proud of everything that’s happened over the past 10 years,” said Houlie afterwards.
As for being pushed all the way by Smith, he reckoned: “If you look at the legacy that South Africa has in breaststroke, we have strong roots. And Chris and I are just carrying that through, and I think especially now leading up to LA, it’s a great spot to be in. Both of us are doing pretty well and continue to just push each other in every moment that we have, and continue to just build and build.”
The other swimmer to secure her spot on the team for the World Short Course Championships was Duné Coetzee, swimming in her home pool after recently making a move to train in Pietermaritzburg.
Coetzee achieved the qualifying time in the heats of the 400m freestyle, finishing in a time of 4min 5.54sec. She went slightly slower in the final but still took the title in 4:06.29.
Several other swimmers achieved B qualifying times for the World Championships, making sure they can still be selected for the team. They included Matthew Caldwell, who won the 400m freestyle in 3:45.23 and Mila van der Linde who won the 100m backstroke in 59.35.
Both Abigail Kotze (59.11) and Anje van As (59.21) dipped under the B qualifier in the women’s 100m butterfly, while Jarden Eaton (51.62) and Kaydn Naidoo (51.88) did the same in the men’s 100m butterfly.
There were also two B qualifiers in the women’s 200m individual medley – Georgia Nel (2:13.10) and Sofia French (2:13.71).
Swimming continues at the GC Jolliffe Swimming Pool in Pietermaritzburg until Sunday.
Supplied by Swimming SA