Tatjana Schoenmaker is a South African swimmer, who completed, and won two gold medals for breaststroke, in the 2018 Commonwealth Games. PDBY spoke to Schoenmaker’s coach, Rocco Meiring, about her latest achievements, training, goals, and upcoming competitions.
How is Schoenmaker progressing in her training?
Schoenmaker is doing well in her training, and is in her maximum training now. We are on week 8 of a cycle of 13 weeks for going to Olympic trials.
How vigorous is her training?
She is obviously training very vigorously, 22 hour weeks, so that is nine swimming sessions a week with a minimum of two hours per session, and 2-3 gym sessions of at least an hour per session.
What is your next big goal for her to tackle?
The next big goal is obviously the Olympics. We have not spoken about anything beyond the Olympics. First stop is to get selected for the Olympics, and then compete doing the best that she can.
What have been her greatest achievements so far?
She is the first woman in many decades to win a medal at the Commonwealth Games. She won two golds and she is the first South African female to do that. She broke the long standing African and South African record. She is also the first female to win world student games, and then she went on to be the first South African woman to ever win a medal at the world championships, where she finished second in the 200m breaststroke. She is also the first [South African] female in many Olympic cycles to qualify for the Olympics.
What do you believe she can still achieve?
Tatjana can become one of the world’s greatest swimmers, I have no doubt. It is going to take a while, she only graduated at the end of last year from a difficult degree, and her professional career is only two months old.
At the end of 2019, Tatjana handed over R100 000 to Precious Blessings. What did this mean for her career and what is the organization?
With regards to the R100 000 that Schoenmaker handed over to her charity, the charity is for children and babies who have been abandoned by their parents. As youth is very close to her heart, she is intent on focusing on the youth of South Africa, and inspiring young people – making their lives better not only with the swimmers, but with the community.
What advice would you give to other swimmers training hard to achieve their goals?
My advice is to have a plan, be patient, and be willing to take knocks, but to get up again and keep going, and have the mental strength to take the knocks and disappointments. Schoenmaker missed qualifying for the Olympics in 2016 with less than half a second, but she got up again, refocused, regathered herself, and now she is qualified.
CAITLYN WALSH
