Dearth of SA Olympic swimmers
● South African swimming looks set to go to the Paris Olympics later this year with its lowest count of new Games faces.
Heading into last night’s final session of the national championships in Gqeberha, only one debutante — Lara van Niekerk — had achieved a qualifying time for the Paris Olympics later this year.
One out of nine qualifiers — or 11.11% — would represent the smallest uptake of fresh talent since readmission at Barcelona 1992.
Even if that were to grow to, say, three out of 12 by the time the qualification window closes on June 23, it still would be a significant drop-off of a rate that has sat well above 50%.
For London 2012, it dipped to 47.36%, but there were still nine newcomers out of 19 competitors, the second-biggest aquatics squad in history. The rate ranged from 62.5% for Athens 2004 to 87% for Tokyo 2020. The actual numbers have varied from a minimum of five, at Atlanta 1996 and 2004, to 16 for Beijing 2008.
Coaches are pointing out that the Tokyo Olympic qualifying standards had been lifted to the 14th-fastest times swum at the previous Games, instead of 16th-fastest.
Whether this statistic is the start of a worrying trend remains to be seen, but local superstar Tatjana Smith — who missed qualifying for what would have been her first Games at Rio 2016 — warns against fasttracking young swimmers.
South Africa’s star of Tokyo, who won the 200m breaststroke gold and 100m silver, suffered heartbreak at the national trials eight years ago when selection criteria were more rigid than they are now.
Qualifying times had to be achieved at the gala, compared to the current system, where swimmers can do it any time during the qualifying window that started on March 1 last year.
Smith had achieved a qualifying time a month or so before the 2016 national championships, where she missed the mark by one-hundredth of a second when it mattered. “I think sometimes we rush the process,” she said, adding that Rio had not been part of her initial plan.
But then her times dropped rapidly, and she hit the qualifying standard about a month before the national trials. She forgot the long-term plan. “I think, just stick to the plan,” said Smith. “No matter if you’re moving faster in the process, have a plan every year. I think that’s what we ended up doing from 2017.”
That year, Smith qualified for the world championships, but she skipped that to focus on the World Student Games.
The next year she landed the 100m-200m double at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, and in 2019 she competed at her first world championships, winning the 200m breaststroke silver.
She sailed into greatness at Tokyo, and she’s looking good for more silverware in Paris. “I did my journey the way I wanted to, progressing in the international stages as well, which I find is very important, because it’s so tough to go from national level to world champs. It’s a whole different ball game and I think for me my journey has worked out perfectly.”