Swimming sensation Tatjana dives back into the pool for short-course champs

South Africa’s most decorated Olympian, Tatjana Smith, is on the comeback trail and will return to action at the South African short-course championships in Pietermaritzburg from September 24-27.

A Swimming South Africa (SSA) press release said the 29-year-old, who quit after the 2024 Paris Games, would compete in the three breaststroke events over 50m, 100m and 200m as well as in some relays for her new Stellenbosch-based team, Lane Leader.

“We’re very excited that Tatjana is coming back to swimming,” said SSA’s high-performance manager Dean Price.

“We know Tatjana is an excellent racer, so you can really count on her in a big event. I think she’ll be a huge addition to our team, and not only in the individual events but in the relays as well … We look forward to her competing in her first event, and we feel very confident that she’s going to do well.”

Smith, the only South African to have won gold medals at different Olympics in real time, has four Games gongs, the same as Chad Le Clos, but her two golds and two silvers outrank his single gold and three silvers.

The national gala, which is staged in a 25m pool as opposed to an Olympic-sized pool, is a qualifier for the world short-course championships in Beijing in early December.

It’s not clear if Smith is aiming to go to the global gala but if she does, it will be the first time appearing at that event, having focused mostly on long-course events, in which she has won three world championship medals.

Also competing there is 50m breaststroke star Michael Houlie, who won silver medals at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and in the Pan Pacific Championships in Los Angeles.

“Short-course metres is a different type of racing, and we’re still in the early stages of preparing for Worlds in December,” Houlie said. “So with the increased frequency of walls, pullouts, transitions, there’s a different rhythm to it … and sometimes it takes a little time for everything to click.

“I also really enjoy racing while under training load because it gives honest feedback about where I’m at. So for Pietermaritzburg I’m looking for great feedback, information that I can take from the racing and use it to sharpen and refine my process heading to the world championships in December.”

Other top names set to compete are Commonwealth Games relay medallists Hannah Pearse, Georgia Nel, Guy Brooks and Chris Smith, as well as Para swimmer Christian Sadie, fresh off his gold medal-winning performance in the S7 50m freestyle in Glasgow.