South African retired swimmer Tatjana Smith, 28, wasn’t very pleased with the lack of time given to the swimming performances of smaller nations in the media. The two-time Olympic champion and legend spoke about the apparent disparities at length in her exclusive interview on the quadrennial event's official website.

Despite the challenges in media exposure, Smith’s remarkable achievements before retiring at the conclusion of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games have begun to signal a shift in the narrative.

“Media coverage is always more hyped towards other countries' swimmers,” Smith said. “How are we supposed to create hope and allow African swimmers to see that they can actually perform well if we are considered 'irrelevant' to the world?” the South African asked.

While raising concerns about coverage, Smith also expressed optimism about the future, especially with the 2026 Youth Olympic Games coming to Dakar, Senegal, from October 31 to November 13. She believes that awarding a multi-sporting event to an African country marks progress for the entire continent.

“I am so excited. This is what we need on African soil. For a young African swimmer watching that,” Smith remarked.

Moreover, as the first female to win the world title in swimming from South Africa, Smith still continues to champion the cause for the sport. She works behind the scenes to lobby for funds to invest in swimming and help elevate it in her country.

Tatjana Smith’s illustrious swimming career for South Africa

Tatjana Smith won the gold medal for South Africa in the women’s 200m breaststroke at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, with a time of 2:20.80. It was her second medal in the 200m breaststroke at the Worlds after the silver in Gwangju, South Korea, in 2019.

Also, during the World Championships in Fukuoka, she had clinched the women’s 100m breaststroke silver medal just three days before the world title.

In her swimming career, Smith secured four medals at the Olympic Games for South Africa, starting with the 100m breaststroke silver medal (1:05.22) at Tokyo 2020. During the same event, she also set the world record time of 2:18.95 in the 200m breaststroke to win her maiden Olympic gold medal.

Before announcing her retirement post the Paris Olympics in 2024, Smith went one better in the 100m breaststroke, winning gold with a time of 1:05.28. However, she had to settle for the silver in the 200m breaststroke (2:19.60), losing to the American, Kate Douglass, in her last career race at the Olympic Games.

Read more at Swimmer's Club!

Written by

Arjun Sharma

Edited by

Ankita Yadav