2026 SOUTH AFRICAN SC CHAMPIONSHIPS
- September 24th – September 27th
- G.C. Jolliffe Swimming Pool, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
- SCM (25m)
- Meet Central
The 2026 South African Short Course Championships are slated to begin on September 24th in Pietermaritzburg, and one name immediately stood out on the psych sheets.
Two-time Olympic champion Tatjana Smith (nee Schoenmaker) is listed as having entered the women’s 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke events for the competition which would check in as her first races since retiring immediately following her performances at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
Smith hung up her goggles at the age of 27 after becoming South Africa’s most decorated Olympic athlete in history. She earned 200m breast gold and 100m breast silver at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, followed by 100m breast gold and 200m breast silver three yers later at the 2024 Games in Paris.
She is a former World Record holder and capatured a trio of World Championships medals over the course of her career, including 200m breast gold in 2023. Smith’s resume also carries four Commonwealth Games medals, incuding three golds.
The now-29-year-old has been in the news recently, voicing her frustrations with Swimming South Africa (SSA), including sending a letter to the organization regarding the withholding of prize money in 2023.
She recently discussed that situation, along with training conditions within her native country, and the announcement that she launched an ‘athlete watchdog’-type organization called Lighthouse Sports Foundation.
We’ve reached out to Smith to obtain more details on her expected appearance at these SC Championships.
While the likes of Pieter Coetze, Matt Sates, Chad le Clos and Aimee Canny are absent from the psych sheets, additional entries include Chris Smith, Michael Houlie, Georgia Nel and Hannah Pearse.
