{"id":593451,"date":"2024-07-31T11:50:39","date_gmt":"2024-07-31T18:50:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=593451"},"modified":"2024-07-31T15:32:27","modified_gmt":"2024-07-31T22:32:27","slug":"paris-olympics-day-5-semifinals-tatjana-smith-books-tilt-at-200-breaststroke-title-defence-set-for-duel-with-kate-douglass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/paris-olympics-day-5-semifinals-tatjana-smith-books-tilt-at-200-breaststroke-title-defence-set-for-duel-with-kate-douglass\/","title":{"rendered":"Paris Olympics, Day 5 Semifinals: Tatjana Smith Books Tilt At 200 Breaststroke Title Defence; Set For Duel With Kate Douglass"},"content":{"rendered":"

Paris Olympics, Day 5 Semifinals: Tatjana Smith Books Tilt At 200 Breaststroke Title Defence; Set For Duel With Kate Douglass<\/h4>\n

Rebecca Soni<\/strong> is the only woman to have defended the Olympic 200m breaststroke title, the American fending off all-comers at Beijing 2008 and London 2012.<\/p>\n

Tatjana Smith<\/strong> (nee Schoenmaker<\/strong>) now has the chance to become the second woman to do so after qualifying for Thursday’s final second in 2:19.94 behind Kate Douglass<\/strong> of the USA who booked lane four in 2:19.74.<\/p>\n

“I was excited to be next to her tonight,” Douglass said of Smith. “I knew we would probably both go 2:19s, and I knew we would just push each other in that race. It went as expected.”<\/p>\n

The pair were in clear water with the American three seconds ahead of Tes Schouten<\/strong>, the world champion earlier this year who clocked 2:22.74.<\/p>\n

Also through were Smith’s teammate Kaylene Corbett<\/strong> who made it two South Africans in the final in 2:22.87, Ye Shiwen<\/strong> of China (2:23.13), Lilly King<\/strong> (2:23.25), Kotryna Teterevkova<\/strong> (2:23.42) and Satomi Suzuki<\/strong> of Japan who claimed the final berth in 2:23.50.<\/p>\n