GOLD COAST – Tatjana Schoenmaker came close to setting a third African record at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games when she won her semi-final heat in the 100m-breaststroke in a time of 1:06.65 on Sunday.
Her time was just 0.13 seconds slower than the record (1:06.52) set by Penny Heyns in 1999. However, judging by Schoenmaker’s performances over the last four days she could further improve her time in Monday’s final.
In a matter of eight hours, the Tuks swimmer has improved her time in the 100m-breaststroke by more than a second. In the heats, she swam 1:07.69 which was the second fastest time behind Australia’s Georgia Bohl who clocked 1:07.40.
In spite of having won a gold medal in an African record time of 2:22.02 in the 200m-breaststroke, Schoenmaker is reluctant to talk about the possibility of winning a second medal at the Games.
“I don’t overthink about winning another medal. It is more important to me to swim fast times. My goal today was to swim a time faster than 1:07.00 and I did. It is great when you are able to achieve what you set out to do,” said the Tuks swimmer.
According to Schoenmaker she will not be specifically targeting the long-standing record of Heyns.
“I will certainly go for it. If it does not come up I will be okay with it. It was then not meant to be.”
Keeping composed was one the biggest keys to her success said Schoenmaker.
“In the past, my nerves got to me as I worried about all sort of things instead of focusing on my race.”