Tatjana Schoenmaker reclaimed her 100m breaststroke national crown with a strong swim in Gqeberha on Wednesday night, dethroning young star Lara van Niekerk at the SA championships.
Van Niekerk had ruled this event through 2022, also taking the Commonwealth Games gold, but Schoenmaker, the Olympic silver medallist in this event in 2021, delivered a strong performance that nullified her opponent’s natural power.
Schoenmaker got off to the quicker start and they were almost event at the turn, but then the Olympic 200m breaststroke champion used her endurance to give her the advantage on the second lap to win in 1 min 05.89 sec. Van Niekerk was second in 1:06.74.
That’s the fastest Schoenmaker has been in home waters since winning the 2021 SA championships in 1:05.74, though Van Niekerk’s 1:05.67 from last year remains the fastest time in the country.
Both their efforts were A-qualifying times for the world championships in Fukuoka, Japan, in July, with two other swimmers also booking their tickets on the opening day of the gala.
Aimee Canney won the women’s 200m freestyle 1:57.82, and Pieter Coetzé touched first in the men’s 100m backstroke in 52.78, lowering his own SA record by .17 sec.
Swimming
Sweet revenge for Tatjana as she reclaims SA 100m crown from Lara
Image: Anton Geyser/Gallo Images
Tatjana Schoenmaker reclaimed her 100m breaststroke national crown with a strong swim in Gqeberha on Wednesday night, dethroning young star Lara van Niekerk at the SA championships.
Van Niekerk had ruled this event through 2022, also taking the Commonwealth Games gold, but Schoenmaker, the Olympic silver medallist in this event in 2021, delivered a strong performance that nullified her opponent’s natural power.
Schoenmaker got off to the quicker start and they were almost event at the turn, but then the Olympic 200m breaststroke champion used her endurance to give her the advantage on the second lap to win in 1 min 05.89 sec. Van Niekerk was second in 1:06.74.
That’s the fastest Schoenmaker has been in home waters since winning the 2021 SA championships in 1:05.74, though Van Niekerk’s 1:05.67 from last year remains the fastest time in the country.
Both their efforts were A-qualifying times for the world championships in Fukuoka, Japan, in July, with two other swimmers also booking their tickets on the opening day of the gala.
Aimee Canney won the women’s 200m freestyle 1:57.82, and Pieter Coetzé touched first in the men’s 100m backstroke in 52.78, lowering his own SA record by .17 sec.
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