Tatjana Schoenmaker Hits 2:20.30 For Fastest 200 Breast Since Tokyo

2023 SOUTH AFRICAN WORLD TRIALS

• Thursday, December 14th – Monday, December 18th
• Kings Park Pool, Durban South Africa
• LCM (50m)
• SwimSwam Preview
• Results – Meet Mobile: KZNA 2023 Championships Incorp SSA Trials

Racing on day 2 of the nation’s World Trials, a quartet of swimmers notched their names onto the South African provisional roster for next year’s World Championships in Doha.

31-year-old Chad Le Clos, the Olympic champion who has been training in Germany since late last year led the charge.

Tonight Le Clos clocked a time of 51.56 (24.24/27.32) to grab the win, dipping under the World Aquatics qualification time of 51.96 needed for Doha.

The time is a solid effort from the veteran who told Swimming South Africa earlier this week that he recently tweaked his back. His outing ranks him just outside the top 10 performers on the season.

Erin Gallagher of Tuks also nailed a Doha-worthy time in the women’s 100m fly.

To get the job done, the 24-year-old produced a gold medal-winning performance of 58.11 (26.83/31.28). That cleared the World Championships QT by .22, with Gallagher beating the field by over 3 seconds.

Gallagher is the South African national record holder in this evening, owning a lifetime best of 57.64 from this year’s World University Games.

The additional 2 Doha qualifiers both came in the women’s 200m breaststroke final.

Olympic champion and former World Record holder Tajana Schoenmaker got to the wall first, crushing a winning result of 2:20.30.

26-year-old Schoenmaker, who recently got married, opened in 1:07.67 and closed in 1:12.63 to produce a head-turning swim.

The time tonight beat her gold medal-winning performance from this year’s World Championships. There in Fukuoka, she topped the podium in 2:20.80.

In fact, according to the World Aquatics database, Schoenmaker’s clocking here represents the 5th fastest time of her career all-time and her quickest since the Tokyo 2020 (2021) Olympic Games.

Tatjana Schoenmaker‘s Top 5 LCM 200 Breaststroke Performances All-Time

1. 2:18.95 – 2021 Olympic Games
2. 2:19.16 – 2021 Olympic Games (heats)
3. 2:19.33 – 2021 Olympic Games (semi-final)
4. 2:20.17 – 2021 South African National Championships
5. 2:20.30 – 2023 South African World Championship Trials
6. 2:20.80 – 2023 World Championships

Scheonmaker now ranks #1 in the world this season, dethroning Dutch national record holder Tes Schouten who previously wore the crown with the 2:21.52 hit on the World Aquatics World Cup circuit.

Although she finished nearly 5 seconds behind Schoenmaker, Commonwealth Games medalist Kaylene Corbett also notched a final time beneath the Doha QT. Corbett touched in 2:25.12, clearing the 2:25.91 selection standard.

South African Qualifiers for 2024 World Championships Through Day 1

• Chad Le Clos – men’s 100m fly (51.56)
• Erin Gallagher – women’s 100m fly (58.11)
• Tatjana Schoenmaker – women’s 200m breast (2:20.30)
• Kaylene Corbett – women’s 200m breast (2:25.12)