Tatjana finishes in sixth place

SOUTH African swimming sensation Tatjana Schoenmaker fell short of a medal in her first final at the World Long-Course Championships finishing sixth in the 100m breaststroke in Gwangju, South Korea yesterday.

Schoenmaker made a promising start at her first senior world championships, lining up against the best talent on the planet.

The 22-year-old will have another shot at becoming the first South African woman to win a medal at the championships when she competes in the 200m breaststroke later in the week.

Lining up against world record holder Lilly King of the United States and former global champion Yuliya Efimova, Schoenmaker touched in sixth place with a time of one minute, 06.60 seconds (1:06.60).

She missed out on the bronze by 0.24s.

King won the arm wrestle with Efimova hitting the wall in a winning time of 1:04.93 with the Russian finishing second behind her in a time of 1:05.49.

“I was shaking already on the blocks, and I was just hoping I don’t false-start,” Schoenmaker said.

“I am excited about the 200m; it will be a different type of pacing,” she added.

Schoenmaker’s national record time of 1:06.32 she set at the recent World Student Games would have been good enough for a bronze medal at the global showpiece.

Meanwhile, four-time world champion Chad le Clos marched through to the 200m butterfly final despite racing with a hernia.

Le Clos finished second behind Hungarian favourite Kristof Milak, who smashed into the wall with the fastest time of the semi-finals clocking 1:52.96 which is the same as the South African’s time at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

“I am very happy, I just wanted to make the final, it is going to be tough tomorrow night, he (Milak) he is far, far ahead of everyone,” Le Clos said.

“We’ll see, I’ve come for the fight, I’ve come to race.”

The South African said although he may not be in the right shape to take down the young Turks ‘talking trash’ about him, he would be up for it at next year’s Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

“I’ve had some trouble with my hernia, but I feel good, and I don’t make excuses, and I’ll come for these young guns who are talking a lot of trash,” Le Clos said after his morning heat.

“We’ll see, next year I will take them for sure, this week will be very close, but we will see.”