South Africans went taatie for Tatjana Schoenmaker yesterday after she set her second Olympic record of the Tokyo Games, looking to chase down an elusive gold medal.
Having swam a competition-leading 1:04.82 in the 100m breaststroke heats earlier this week, the 24-year-old won her 200m breaststroke heat 4 in a time of 2:19.16 – just 0.05 off the world record.
In the 100m final, Schoenmaker wasn’t able to replicate her best performance and had to settle for a silver medal on Tuesday.
But yesterday, she powered into today’s 5.01am semifinal a whole second ahead the rest of the last-16 competitors, which includes SA’s Kaylene Corbett.
She will know that she will have to bring her A-game again should she have booked her place in tomorrow’s 200m final.
Also in the pool yesterday, the SA women’s 4x200m freestyle relay team set an African record of 8:01.56 in heat 1, but their time wasn’t good enough to progress to the final. Meanwhile, the women’s water polo side were beaten 21-1 by Canada in Group A action.
In Rugby Sevens action yesterday, the Blitzbokke claimed fifth in the tournament with wins over Australia (22-19) and USA (28-7), while the men’s hockey side were klapped 5-0 by the Netherlands.
David Notoane’s U23 football team’s journey also came to a disappointing end yesterday.
Their 3-0 defeat to Mexico means they have lost all their Group A matches and end the tournament without a point after skipper Tercious Malepe’s 58th-minute sending of.
El Tri sliced SA open with ease, with Alexis Vega’s tap-in and Luis Romo’s deflected strike before Henry Martin’s clinical finish sealed their fate.
Tatjana tweets
Shaun Pillay @windiesalways: “TatjanaSchoenmaker you beauty... Thanks for bringing some glitz for us #TokyoOlympics2020.”
A Dog That Bites @SkepeMatsebane:
“Tatjana Schoenmaker went to the Olympics for these records. She broke the 200m breaststroke heat in 2:19.16. She is only 0.05sec off the world record set in 2013. She must get us gold this time.#TeamSA #TokyoOlympics.”
Thando @Tidoz1:
“Our golden girl is on track Tatjana Schoenmaker.”
Maryan Umara @goodgalrirwi:
“Tatjana Schoenmaker this lady is unbelievable, I’m praying she brings gold this time which she’s capable of #TeamSA #TokyoOlympics.”
matthew.marcus@inl.co.za