By Adnaan Mohamed
The return of Tatjana Smith has injected fresh electricity into next week’s South African Short Course Championships, turning a routine national meet into one of the country’s most intriguing swimming stories of the year.
Smith, formerly Schoenmaker, will return to competition at the GC Jolliffe swimming pool from 24 to 27 September, almost two years after retiring following her gold and silver medals at the Paris Olympics.
The four-time Olympic medallist is entered in the 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke, as well as several relays for her new Stellenbosch-based team, Lane Leader.
Swimming South Africa Head of High Performance Dean Price welcomed her return.
“We’re very excited that Tatjana is coming back to swimming. We know Tatjana is an excellent racer, so you can really count on her in a big event. I think she’ll be a huge addition to our team, and I think not only in the individual, but I think she can be of great value in the relays as well… We look forward to her competing in her first event, and we feel very confident that she’s going to do very well.”
Michael Houlie, a Commonwealth Games silver medallist and former national teammate, believes Smith’s new-found freedom could make her particularly dangerous.
“She’s a phenomenal swimmer, but more importantly, she looks like a happy swimmer right now. And that could be dangerous for everyone else, so the world better watch out,” he said.
“She has absolutely nothing left to prove, which means she has the opportunity to race completely free and just enjoy swimming again.”
Duné Coetzee, another former Tokyo teammate, added: “I think it is amazing that she is coming back. She is the best there is and such a huge inspiration to me. I’m really excited to see her race again and to learn from her.”
Houlie will also make his first appearance at the championships since 2018, targeting qualification for December’s World Short Course Championships in Beijing in the 50m and 100m breaststroke and 50m freestyle.
“Short course metres is a different type of racing,” he said, pointing to the increased demands of walls, pullouts and transitions.
Coetzee brings another compelling storyline. Having moved to Pietermaritzburg a month ago to train at Seals Swimming Club under Wayne Riddin, she will race eight individual freestyle and butterfly events in her home training pool.
“Training has been going exceptionally well,” she said. “I’ve been doing some of the hardest sets I have ever done, which has been really motivating and has also given me a lot of confidence in my swimming.”
Commonwealth Games relay medallists Hannah Pearse, Georgia Nel, Guy Brooks and Chris Smith are also entered, while Para swimmer Christian Sadie arrives fresh from winning S7 50m freestyle gold in Glasgow.
For four days, the 25m pool will become a cauldron of turns, underwater battles and stopwatch drama.
Smith’s comeback supplies the headline.
The racing will supply the verdict.