Swimming icon Tatjana Smith switches allegiance to the Netherlands ‘to thrive, not just survive’

Swimmer Tatjana Smith (previously Schoenmaker), from whom Swimming South Africa (SSA) withheld prize money, has announced that she will swim for the Netherlands from now on. 

South Africa’s only Olympic gold medallist at the last two Olympic Games appears to have been hounded out by the very system she spent her career representing. 

Smith gave a parting shot to the SSA system, saying athletes need an “opportunity to thrive, not just survive”. 

Smith, who holds both South African and Dutch citizenship, announced on 10 November that she would represent the Netherlands in the next chapter of her swimming career. According to the statement, World Aquatics has confirmed the switch in sporting nationality.

“Representing South Africa at the Olympic Games was my biggest childhood dream. To have lived that dream and won four Olympic medals is something I will always treasure,” said Smith. 

“Both South Africa and the Netherlands have always been part of who I am. I am deeply grateful to the South African swimming community, all my coaches, and to every South African who cheered me on. That gratitude will never change.” 

‘My dream looks different’

Smith is South Africa’s most decorated Olympic athlete. Across the 2020 Tokyo and 2024 Paris Olympic Games, she won four individual medals in the 100m and 200m breaststroke, including two gold and two silver. (Chad le Clos also has four Olympic medals, one of which is gold and the rest silver.) 

She is also a former 200m breaststroke world record holder, having set the record when she won gold at the Tokyo Games. 

Additionally, Smith has four Commonwealth Games medals and three World Championship podiums. At the 2023 World Championships in Japan, Smith secured gold in the 200m breaststroke, becoming the first South African woman to win a gold medal at the event. 

In 2024, Smith announced her retirement from the sport. On 21 September 2026, after almost two years away from the pool, she announced her return.

Smith’s decision to represent the Netherlands gives her the “opportunity to explore another part of my identity and the heritage that I have never experienced through sport,” she said in a video announcing the change. 

“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 limit and discover what more I was capable of, and for the next chapter my dream looks different,” said Smith.

The 29-year-old has redirected her competitive focus to the 50m breaststroke, a newly added Olympic event for Los Angeles 2028, with the aim of returning to the Olympic stage. 

In September, Smith competed at the South African Short Course Championships in Pietermaritzburg, her first competition since announcing her return. She picked up right where she left off, winning the national 50m breaststroke title and setting two personal bests.

This automatically qualified her for the World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25m) in Beijing, China, which takes place from 1 to 6 December 2026. 

However, she will instead represent the Netherlands, her first competition in orange.

While she will join the Dutch team at international competitions and training camps, Smith will remain based in South Africa, continuing to train with her team that has been part of her swimming journey, according to the statement. 

Smith has formally notified SSA and the Royal Dutch Swimming Federation of her decision, the statement added. 

A need to thrive, not just survive 

Smith’s decision to swap the green and gold for orange comes at an important time for South African sport, with ongoing conversations around support and financial demands placed on athletes.

ATHLETE ADVOCACY

Why South African sportspeople need an independent voice to fight governance failure

November 4, 2026

In her announcement video, Smith said financial considerations were among other reasons why she decided to retire in 2024. Having that financial pressure can quickly turn the love of a sport into a burden.

Representing the Netherlands, she said, would offer greater support and the opportunity to build a more sustainable swimming career. 

“The reality is that this opportunity also offers greater high-performance support and the potential to build a more sustainable career,” she said.

“The financial and practical challenges of swimming were among the reasons my previous career became difficult to sustain. 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 has recently been vocal about athlete welfare, challenging SSA over withheld prize money and limited commercial opportunities when competing. 

Daily Maverick first reported in August that Smith had issued SSA a letter of demand, seeking payment of interest allegedly retained after competition prize money was held for more than a year.

Smith won the 200m breaststroke at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, in July 2023. 

On 16 August that year, SSA told her it was withholding her $35,000 prize money because she had competed in the wrong kit.

The money was paid more than a year later, around the time of the 2024 Paris Olympics. The interest it earned in the meantime was paid only after her lawyers demanded it and Daily Maverick reported on it. 

Smith has said she still does not feel safe in her own federation.

In addition, SSA’s high-performance model is increasingly relying on athlete contributions, leaving some athletes facing costs of up to R120,000 to represent the country. 

More recently, athletes were expected to contribute about R55,000 towards participation in the upcoming short course championships in December – the same competition at which Smith will make her debut for the Netherlands. 

Figures supplied by SSA showed that athlete contributions rose from R7.31-million in 2024 to R9.53-million in 2025, while its total high performance expenditure fell from R19.36-million [an Olympic year] to R15.44-million over the same period. 

On top of that, in August 2026 the World Aquatics integrity unit provisionally suspended the federation’s president, Alan Fritz, and chief executive Shaun Adriaanse, over potential violations, including abuse of power. 

Against this backdrop, Smith asserted that her decision was not a rejection of the country she represented through her career. Instead, it was a choice about the environment in which she wanted to continue competing.

“I chose South Africa at the beginning of my career because I wanted to prove what was possible, even when the system didn’t make it easy. And I did,” she said. 

“But I also believe our athletes deserve a system that gives them an opportunity to thrive, not just survive.” 

Smith acknowledged that her decision might disappoint South Africans who supported her throughout her career, but said it was one she had to make for herself and her future.

“Choosing this path doesn’t take away from the first, it doesn’t diminish the medals I’ve won. The pride I felt singing the South African national anthem or everything I’ve achieved together. That will always be part of my story,” she said. DM