Olympic Champion Tatjana Smith Changes Allegiance to Netherlands
South African Olympic champion Tatjana Smith has changed her sporting allegiance to the Netherlands, she announced on Tuesday.
Smith, who won four Olympic medals for South Africa with the first two as Tatjana Schoenmaker, made the announcement in a video on social media that she termed a Letter to South Africa.
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Smith won gold in the 200 breast and silver in the 100 breast at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, setting a world record in the 200. She won the 100 breast in Paris three years later to go with silver in the 200.
Smith retired immediately following the Paris Olympics. She announced earlier this year that she would return to competition. Part of that return was a squabble with the South African Swimming Federation over withheld prize money.
As such, the 29-year-old has decided that this next chapter of her career will be under the Dutch flag, with Smith holding dual citizenship.
Smith wrote in part:
When I was a little girl, my biggest dream was to represent my country at the Olympic Games. I wanted to wear the South African flag and make my country proud and show what was possible. I got to live that dream, and it gave me more than I could have ever imagined. Four Olympic medals later, I will forever be grateful to swim for South Africa. …
But dreams can change as you grow. When I decided to return to swimming, it wasn’t because I had something left to prove. It was because I had fallen in love with the sport again. I wanted to compete, push my limits and discover what more I was capable of. And for the next chapter, my dream looks different.
Smith said that her struggles with the South African federation were part of her decision. She will continue to train in South Africa and remains committed to helping that system grow. But the native of Johannesburg needed a different level of support for this chapter of her career.
“The financial and practical challenges of swimming were among the reasons my previous career became difficult to sustain,” she said. “This time I want to make a different choice: Protect the love that brought me back to the sport, and give myself the best possible opportunity to pursue my new Olympic dream.”
Smith, who operates a non-profit that supports athletes in South Africa, remains committed to making it “a system that gives our athletes the opportunity to thrive, not just survive.” But in this phase of her career, sees that as an effort that requires stepping outside the system to bring about change.
Never afraid to lean on her emotions or her faith, Smith expressed deep appreciation and admiration for the South African chapters of her journey while being excited about this new chapter.
“This gives me the opportunity to explore another part of my identity and the heritage that I’ve never experienced through sport,” she said. “Choosing this path doesn’t take away from the first. It doesn’t diminish the medals I’ve won, the pride I’ve felt singing the South African national anthem or everything I achieved together. That will always be part of my story.”
