NEW CHAPTER: ‘This time the decision is mine’ — Tatjana Smith returns to competitive swimming

South Africa’s most decorated Olympian, Tatjana Smith, has reversed her retirement and will make her competitive return at the South African Short Course Championships this weekend.

When Tatjana Smith announced her retirement following the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, it came as a surprise to many.

At just 27 years old, Smith was at the peak of her career after having just won Olympic gold and silver in the 100m and 200m breaststroke, and cemented her status as one of the world’s leading breaststroke athletes.

But Smith (formerly Schoenmaker) does not regret stepping away. If anything, the break helped her rediscover her passion for the sport.

Now, less than two years later, Smith is returning to competitive swimming.

In a statement released on Monday, 21 September, the two-time Olympic champion announced that she will mark her comeback at the South African Short Course Championships in Pietermaritzburg from 24 to 27 September.

Her return marks a new chapter in her relationship with the sport that has shaped much of her life, one driven with a clearer understanding of why she wants to be in the pool and how she wants to approach this next chapter.

“When I announced my retirement from swimming, I genuinely believed that chapter of my life was over,” said Smith. “With some distance, I realised that stepping away had been the right decision for me at that time.”

“I had always believed that swimming was something I did, not who I was,” she added. “Stepping away proved that to me. I discovered that I could have a full life beyond the pool and still choose to swim.

“I am coming back because I want to. This time, the decision is mine.”

Smith is South Africa’s most decorated Olympic athlete. Across the 2020 Tokyo and 2024 Paris Olympic Games, she won four individual medals in the 100m and 200m breaststroke, including two gold and two silver.

Chad le Clos also has four Olympic medals, one of which is gold and the rest silver.

She is also a former 200m breaststroke world record holder, having set the world record at the Tokyo Games.

Additionally, she has four Commonwealth Games medals and three World Championship podiums.