Tatjana Smith amassed two Olympic gold medals and two silvers in her career, more than any other South African across all sports.
South Africa’s most-decorated Olympian of all time, Tatjana Smith, has announced she will hang up her swim cap and goggles after bowing out of the pool with a silver medal in the 200-meter breaststroke final at Paris 2024 on Thursday.
Smith, who had hinted at her retirement before the final, has long spoken of her struggles with being in the limelight and at the age of 27 will forge a new path in life, though she wants to stay close to the sport.
“I think it’s really just now embracing life and seeing what’s outside of swimming, what my passions are,” she said. “I think when I was swimming, I was really focusing on swimming because to stay motivated you need to be passionate about your sport, and I never really shifted my mindset.
“Now it’s going to be tomorrow is day one of the life without swimming.”
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Recently married Smith, who competed at Tokyo 2020 under the surname Schoenmaker, amassed two Olympic gold medals and two silvers in her career, more than any other South African across all sports.
Although she will no longer compete, she says helping to bring through the next generation of swimmers is something that is important to her.
“I feel like I want to give something back to swimming, especially in South Africa,” she said. “Just representing swimmers and athletes, we don’t really have that in South Africa. It’s a very unknown sport.”
Smith had qualified as second fastest for Thursday’s 200-meter final behind Kate Douglass from the United States, having already won gold in the 100 meters.
It was those two who fought for the line, with Douglass winning in a time of 2:19.24, just ahead of Smith (2:19.60).
“It was an amazing battle, and I’ve never raced Kate in an Olympic final before,” Smith said. “I couldn’t have asked for a better way to end my career in a very tough battle. I’ve always loved competing.”
As for how she will be remembered, Smith hopes it is for more than medals.
“Achievements fall away,” she said. “You are remembered for who you are, and I want to be remembered for bringing people joy. Swimming is a part of a season in your life and now I’m excited to live life.”
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