Tatjana Schoenmaker Swims 2:20.30 200 Breaststroke as Four South Africans Qualify for Doha Worlds
The Olympic champion and world champion in the women’s 200 breaststroke will begin the Olympic year in an excellent spot after she swam her fastest time in her signature event in more than two years at South Africa’s selection meet for the upcoming World Championships in Doha.
Tatjana Schoenmaker swam times of 2:20.35 in the 200 breast heats and then 2:20.30 in the final, a half-second quicker than the mark she swam to win the world title over American Kate Douglass in Fukuoka in July. Schoenmaker won Olympic gold in 2021 by becoming the first woman to ever crack 2:19 in the 200 breast, swimming a time of 2:18.95. That mark stood as the world record until Russian teenager Evgeniia Chikunova swam an incredible time of 2:17.55 earlier this year. Schoenmaker and Chikunova could face off at the Paris Olympics, but only if Chikunova opts to attend the Games as an “individual neutral athlete.”
Schoenmaker was joined in qualifying for the next edition of the World Championships in the 200 breast by Kaylene Corbett, who clocked 2:25.12 in the event. Schoenmaker also posted Worlds qualifying times in the 100 breast (1:06.10) and 50 breast. She was the World Championships silver medalist in the 100 breast this year at 1:05.84, just over a second behind her best time (1:04.82) from Tokyo.
Meanwhile, Erin Gallagher posted World Championships-worthy times in both sprint butterfly events, touching in 26.08 in the 50 fly and 58.11 in the 100 fly, while veteran Chad le Clos, a 31-year-old veteran of three Olympics and winner of four individual world titles in his career, earned spots for Doha in the 100 fly (51.56) and 200 fly (1:56.65).
A press release from Swimming South Africa noted that other athletes had achieved World Championships qualifying times at other meets, and those times would also be considered for selection for Doha. The organization will select its squad for the Paris Olympics at a selection meet next April.
