{"id":593783,"date":"2024-08-01T15:26:09","date_gmt":"2024-08-01T22:26:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=593783"},"modified":"2024-08-01T15:26:09","modified_gmt":"2024-08-01T22:26:09","slug":"tatjana-smith-ends-career-with-last-big-fight-treasured-silver-medal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/tatjana-smith-ends-career-with-last-big-fight-treasured-silver-medal\/","title":{"rendered":"Tatjana Smith Ends Career with Last \u2018Big Fight,\u2019 Treasured Silver Medal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tatjana Smith Ends Career with Last \u2018Big Fight,\u2019 Treasured Silver Medal<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tears and smiles often coexist for Tatjana Smith<\/strong> in the mixed zone at events like the Olympics. Tears of joy don\u2019t often require much explanation, beyond the beaming visage the South African breaststroker wears to accompany than.<\/p>\n

So Thursday night, when Smith emphatically called time on her career, with a silver medal around her neck from the women\u2019s 200 breaststroke<\/a>, there was no ambiguity about the source of the sadness and the joy.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s a relief,\u201d Smith said after scoring her fourth career medal at the Paris Olympics. \u201cBut I don’t really know, I’m probably like tomorrow going to miss it. It’s 22 years that I’ve been swimming, and it’s been a big part of my family’s life and everything. My family and everyone knows that it was my last one, just to enjoy that moment together. It was a lot of sacrifice that came from everyone, that our lives had to be put aside for Tatjana\u2019s swimming. So I think we\u2019re all excited to just have a family time without swimming in the back of our minds.\u201d<\/p>\n