Schoenmaker outclasses Van Niekerk at SA Swimming Champs

Tatjana Schoenmaker edged Lara van Niekerk in the opening day of the South African Swimming Championships at Newton Park Swimming Pool in Gqeberha.

Olympic star Schoenmaker ensured she would not to be outdone again in the 100m breaststroke, regaining her national title ahead of her teen rival and Commonwealth Games champion Van Niekerk.

Schoenmaker's victory came in 1:05.89 to equal the second-fastest time in the world this year, with Van Niekerk second in 1:06.74.

"It was never about the title. If I came second or last - for me it was about those personal goals that I set for myself," said a thrilled Schoenmaker.

"It is challenging to come back from a 1:04.8 [at the Olympics in Tokyo] and then never breaking a 1:06, so it was really tough.

"I've seen it in training and my times have been looking great but it just didn't link with my racing so I'm grateful to dip under that and see that my times in training are actually showing."

RESULTS: SA Swimming Championships - Day 1

Speaking about the great depth in South African women's breaststroke, Schoenmaker added: "I think we have such an amazing breaststroke group... it's always nice to have world-class swimmers with you in the race.

"We're also all from NTS [Northern Gauteng] so there's never a competition where you're not stepping up against world-class swimmers. I think that's challenging on the mental side because you're not always feeling great but then it's such a good challenge to push yourself every time you swim."

As they had done in the morning heats, both Van Niekerk and Schoenmaker comfortably achieved A qualifying times for the Swimming World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan in July, while third-place Kaylene Corbett’s time of 1:08.57 was a B qualifier.

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