Sportsperson of the Year: Tatjana Smith flies the South African flag in Paris

At Paris 2024, Tatjana Smith (née Schoenmaker) cemented her legacy as a South African sports great. The swimming sensation etched her name in history as the most successful swimmer for her country at the Olympic Games.





Smith collected two Olympic medals in France, to add to the gold and silver she had mined at Tokyo 2020, where she won the 200m gold and the 100m silver in breaststroke. She set Olympic records in both events – in the 200m final and during her heat in the 100m – shooting to superstardom. In a beautiful twist of fate in Paris, Smith picked up gold in the 100m and silver in the 200m, completing an amazing collection of medals.

Her total Olympic tally of two gold and two silver medals made her the most successful South African in the history of the Games. Fellow swimmer Chad le Clos also has four medals, but Smith trumps him thanks to her double gold to his single one.

“You are a shining example of humility with a killer competitive spirit and undying will to win,” said Minister of Sport Gayton McKenzie after her Olympic heroics.

Smith’s 2024 Olympic exploits were made even more impressive by the fact that she found herself in a dark place ahead of the Games. She has always maintained that she just wants to swim. However, fame has followed her since Tokyo 2020.

Due to her reserved personality, Smith almost quit her beloved sport after Tokyo. The spotlight was too much for her. She also asked herself whether she could ever live up to the standards she had set in Tokyo.

“I’m very much about my faith, and in those times that I felt hopeless there was always light,” Smith said. “I never gave up. I knew it might take some time. Everyone’s road isn’t straight.”

In 2023, Smith became the first South African woman swimmer to win a world title. She also married Joel Smith that year, changing her name from Schoenmaker.

“I wish I could swim with a cap that says ‘Swimming is just what I do; it’s not who I am’. That’s also why I changed my surname, because I don’t want my identity to lie in swimming,” Smith, a BCom graduate, said.

She said her preparations for Paris were much more demanding than in the year she emphatically announced herself on the global stage. “This was more challenging than Tokyo. In Tokyo, one was eager and stuff. But when you reach the pinnacle, it’s a question of what now? That was where the hard work really came in. It was more of the mental side of things and how you can physically push your body,” Smith said.

“Everyone is working so hard. So [you ask whether] you believe in yourself. Do you believe you can do it again? Can you handle the expectations of everyone looking at you? Because when I went to Tokyo, no one knew who I was. Now you get people that recognise you. I never dreamt of it. I like being in the background. I don’t like the attention.”

Of course, she would go on to handle the pressure with finesse and composure.

Having almost retired post-Tokyo, this year she officially walked away from swimming, which she has been doing since she was five years old.

Post-retirement, she has ambitions to make swimming more accessible to all South Africans. “Swimming has been called an elitist sport [because it is] so expensive.

“How are we supposed to get the talent from the non-privileged areas if we can’t give them financial backing?

“For people that maybe do have money, it’s already ex­­pensive. There’s so much talent out there; we just need to give them the opportunity.” DM

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35.