Schoenmaker wakes up South Africa’s challenge
TATJANA Schoenmaker is on the cusp of becoming the first South African woman to win a medal at the Swimming World Long-Course Championships after qualifying for the 100m breaststroke final in Gwangju, South Korea yesterday.
The Commonwealth Games double gold medallist made a stunning start to her senior debut and shook South Africa’s campaign out of a slumber.
Schoenmaker came into the championships buoyed by her double gold from the recent World Student Games and qualified for the semi-final by finishing third in her heat with a time of one minute, 06.76 seconds (1:06.76).
The 22-year-old showed her class in the semi-final touching second behind Yuliya Efimova. The South African posted the fifth-fastest time of the two semifinals hitting the wall in a time of 1:06.61, just 0.2s off her national record.
“I am happy, I came second in my heat so now in the final I have a chance, and I am here for the experience to race. So it is awesome,” Schoenmaker said.
“I have a morning rest, so hopefully that will help me a bit, and I have to trust my stroke. It is hard when you are racing these fast people,” Schoenmaker said.
“You see them sprinting next to you, and you think ‘am I behind’ so it is about racing your race.”
Schoenmaker will be lining up against Efimova and American world record-holder and Olympic gold medallist Lilly King.
While many South African women have won medals at the World Short-Course Championships over the years, none have stepped onto the podium in the 50-metre pool.
Schoenmaker was the first South African to make it past the morning heats after two days of action at the global showpiece.
Rio Olympian Christopher Reid nearly joined Schoenmaker for the evening’s swimming in the men’s 100m backstroke finishing one place short of reaching the semifinals. The national record-holder finished his heat in fifth place with a time of 54.12 seconds.
“It was a good race for me … it showed me that I still had some speed, the 200m backstroke is the priority for me,” Reid said.
“I will give it my best shot in the 200m and technically nothing is wrong.”
Four-time world champion Chad le Clos will start his campaign today after he scratched from the 50m butterfly on the first day of the championships. He will be looking to win his second consecutive and third overall 200m butterfly gold medal.
OCKERT DE VILLIERS