Tatjana Smith’s immediate retirement plans include padel, jogs and chocolate

Tatjana Smith says she’s looking forward to enjoying the smaller things in retirement she wasn’t able to indulge in as a professional swimmer, such as eating when she wants or going for a run.

The breaststroke queen announced she was done with the sport after winning the 200m silver at the Paris Olympics on Thursday night.

Smith, 27, admitted she had yet to decide what she would do, giving herself until December to decide, but she was adamant quitting swimming would offer refreshing lifestyle changes.

“I’m excited to also just live life, go and play padel, go for a run without being worried about getting injured or something, eating whenever I want to eat, not eating at 2pm exactly, eating a chocolate whenever I want to.

“It’s all those little things people don’t think about. It’s more like everyone sees a bigger picture but it’s those small things I want to change that’s going to feel so weird that it’s going to be such an amazing experience.”

Smith said she had been unable to think about her future while focused on swimming.

“I think these few months until December I’ll probably give myself some space to find my passions outside of swimming.

“When you’re in the swimming world you want to stay passionate about swimming, and to stay passionate you have to stay motivated.

“I didn’t really want to look beyond swimming. I wanted to enjoy what I was in and the season I was in. I have six months to get myself to December. I don’t know if it's going to happen. I’m giving myself some time to take it in, breathe and decide where I want to go. There’s no rush.”

Smith joins Chad Le Clos as South Africa’s most decorated Olympian, with four medals in total, but her two gold and two silver out-ranks his one gold and three silver.

I came into the final knowing I didn’t want to rush the last 20 metres.

—  Tatjana Smith

She reiterated that she was not driven by such statistics.

“I didn’t try and hold on to those things. It’s never my goals. My goal is to execute the race as best as possible.

“I came into the final knowing I didn’t want to rush the last 20 metres,” she said.

“I did it in the semis and I felt like I ruined my own stroke and I wasn’t confident in my stroke.

“That was the goal for the final so I kept on gliding. I still fought but I stayed within my stroke and the results turned out the way it did. I’m still very happy.”

Smith seemed to spend more time than usual with fans during the poolside parade after the medal ceremony, smiling, signing autographs and posing for photos.

Her teammate and training partner, Kaylene Corbett, described Smith as the “perfect teammate”.

“She inspires me in so many different ways. It’s incredible to watch her flourish and get the medals and do it for South Africa and for women in sports.

“It is something that inspires me daily. So she definitely is the perfect teammate. It’s nice to swim next to her, it’s nice to see her succeed,” said Corbett, struggling to fight back the tears as she spoke about her teammate.

“Even after the race, being able to hug one of your best friends, that’s something that means more than a medal.”