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SWIMMING NEWS & VIDEO - There seems to be no slowing down for Tatjana Schoenmaker at the Tokyo Olympics. On Wednesday afternoon (SA time) she just missed out on setting a new world record in the 200m-breaststroke.
She won her heat in a time of 2:19,16, which is only 0.05s slower than the world record set by Sweden’s Rikke Pedersen in 2013.
However, Schoenmaker’s winning time is a new Olympic record. In 2012 in London, Rebecca Soni (USA) won the gold medal swimming 2:19,59.
The Tuks based swimmer dominated from the moment she dived in, increasing her lead with each stroke. In the end, she finished more than three seconds ahead of Evgeniia Chikunova (ROC), who was second.
The fantastic thing about Schoenmaker’s performance is that it is the fourth day that she has been competing. On Tuesday she won a silver medal in the 100m-breaststroke. During the heats, she also set an Olympic record swimming 1:04,82.
“I think today’s performance is my best by far. I dropped another second. I am very happy about that. Obviously, I was a bit nervous coming from the 100m. It is a whole extra 100m. I was not sure how I was going to feel. Then I heard my coach screaming. I thought I am I going to slow,” said the Tuks based swimmer.
Schoenmaker followed up her performance in the heat shortly after 05:00 on Thursday morning (SA time) with another first place in the semi-final. Her time in this race was again faster than 1: 20,00. This time she finished in 1: 19,33.
Watch a video below:
* A few minutes earlier, her friend and training partner, Kaylene Corbett also qualified for the finals by winning her semi-final in 1: 22.08. With this achievement, she improved her personal best time in the item twice within 24 hours, after winning her heat on Wednesday afternoon in a time of won her heat in 2:22.48.
Corbett was overwhelmed with joy after her great performances.
“I can’t believe what I had achieved. I had a difficult two years in which I did not once get close to swimming a personal best time. So, I had been quite discouraged ever so often. All I wanted to do at the Olympics Games was to swim a personal best time. It is what I wanted out of the whole Tokyo experience,” she remarked.
When asked about her friendship with Schoenmaker, the Tuks based swimmer said they are like sisters in and out of the water. Sharing disappointments and highlights.
“I have been privileged to swim every 200m-breaststroke final in which Tatjana medalled since the 2018 Commonwealth Games. I can’t explain the feeling of being there when Tatjana achieves her goals. It is inspiring not only to me but everyone in our training squad,” an emotional Corbett said.
The final will take place on Friday morning 10:41 (Japan), which is 03:41 SA time.
