Gold Medalist Tatjana Smith of Team South Africa reacts on the podium during the Swimming medal ceremony after the Women’s 100m Breaststroke Final on day three of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Paris La Defense Arena on July 29, 2024 in Nanterre, France. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
We asked what you thought of Tatjana Smith’s decision to swim for the Netherlands. More than 400 of you replied and almost none of you blamed her. Readers were sad to lose her.
Most of the frustration was aimed at how South African sport looks after its athletes. Here is a selection of what you told us. (Some responses have been edited for length and clarity. Readers who asked to remain anonymous are not named.)
‘It is the wrong question’
“The right question is what do we think of Swimming South Africa – and it should be said many of the other bodies representing sports in South Africa, Olympic and otherwise. Based on my answer to THAT question, Tatjana’s decision is entirely understandable.” – Mark Humphry
“There’s no question she loves her country – if four Olympic medals don’t prove that, then little else does. Like so many of us, her country didn’t love her back.” – Mark Strathmore
‘Swim where you are wanted’
“If she was a rugby or cricket player she would have drowned in sponsorships and financial support and resources… Please do swim where you are wanted, appreciated and will have the support you need and deserve.” – Marlie
“Would you keep a job you loved and were loyal to even if you weren’t being paid your salary instead of moving to another job with better pay and a more supportive team? She’s made the right move, but flip we’ll miss her.” – Anonymous
“How long would any of us work for a company that pays us late and tells us to fund our own work trips?” – Anonymous
“A lesson from corporate life is that top talent doesn’t leave an organisation – they leave their bosses.” – Anonymous
“If I were in her shoes (or swim cap) I’d probably do the same thing, so no judgement here, just support.” – Anonymous
What it really costs
Many of the most striking responses came from readers who described themselves as parents of young athletes or former competitors, writing about what it takes to compete for South Africa:
“I am a father supporting two aspiring athletes in their teens. One could go to World Champs next year. The cost of this is eye-watering. Sponsors don’t bring money… Federation support is absent. If we go to Worlds we also will even have to pay for things we won’t make use of.” – Sebastian D
“My daughter was selected to represent the development team for water polo and we had to personally fund the trip… Athletes can’t sustain the costs personally.” – Shafiqah Moonda
“If you want to excel at sports in South Africa, you need to be able to fund yourself… My son swims provincially and the costs of competing just locally have increased year on year since he started in primary school. We can’t even get a dedicated swimming pool for fixtures, so galas are regularly cancelled or postponed.” – Anonymous
“I experienced a similar situation having been selected to represent SA in World champs, but with no sponsorship and had to decline the invitation.” – Anonymous
“Looking at all our sports, it costs athletes, even the very young, extreme amounts of money. SA must rethink how they support their athletes. Affordability has most likely cost SA many many athletes of all kinds.” – Martha Sequeira
“Our top athletes should be given the support that they need to thrive. They should not be put into a position where they have to prioritise paying the bills over the exercising of the incredible gift that they have been blessed with, namely representing the country they love, at the highest levels of their sport.” – Anonymous
‘Not just swimming’
“I personally believe that part of her decision was the hope that this would open the eyes of the sporting bodies in SA and that the system should be improved to assist our sportsmen and women more. Hockey and many other sporting codes have suffered too long from maladministration, and this needs to change.” – John Douthwaite
‘A lost opportunity’
“It’s another lost opportunity to embrace the talent riches that SA has, for the good of our country and our fragile social pact. Politicians and Administrators appear impervious to the criticism that justifiably gets levelled at them, as our best and brightest are exported to more welcoming climes.” – Martin Neethling
“Just like we lose talented work forces due to government mishandlings, we are losing talented sportsmen and women due to misgovernance in sport.” – Anonymous
“It is sad, but considering the state of SSA and the issues she had with prize money, it is an understandable decision… I moved to the Netherlands for work, so I am in a similar boat.” – Anonymous
Not everyone agreed
A small number of readers questioned the decision.
“She is a swimmer first and not a patriot. I respect her choice but I respect her less now.” – Anonymous
“An athlete has every right to maximise short-term revenue… But… she’s where she is because of South Africa.” – Anonymous
One reader saw it differently: “Opens an opportunity for a younger swimmer here in SA.” – Anonymous
Some readers raised race. “These are the privileges of being white. Imagine the outcry to revoke her citizenship if this was another African,” wrote one reader.
Rens Rezelman disagreed: “To make it an issue of ‘oh she’s white and can simply switch allegiance’ is not the story here… People seek opportunity. South Africa is not that for many people, irrespective of race.”
‘Sad to lose you, but we understand’
“We’re immensely sad to lose you, Tatjana, but we understand.” – Patricia Proctor
“I fully understand her decision. South Africa’s loss is through our own bad management. Go and thrive, I wish you well!” – Linny Earl
“To Tatjana – I wish you well. It must be incredibly painful to say ‘goodbye’ to something (or someone) it is clear you love with all your heart. I’m sorry we have let you down.” – Richard King
“She has done us proud. It’s obvious that she loves her sport and that she is so very good at it. She should go where she gets support. It’s a pity that we can’t support our athletes adequately.” – Anonymous
“Deeply saddened for South Africa, but fully understand her decision. We need to get our house in order, regarding the way we support our sportsmen and women!” – Anonymous
And one reader picked up on Smith’s own words, that athletes deserve a system that lets them thrive, not just survive:
“So, Tatjana spread your fins, open your gills and swim off to where you can be a Herring instead of a Snoek.” – Ilene Sibanda
What you asked, and what we’ve reported
Many of you raised the same questions: What actually happened between Smith and Swimming SA, and why athletes seem to be left to fend for themselves. Daily Maverick has reported on all of this over the past few months. Here’s where things stand.
What happened with Smith’s prize money?
After Smith won gold and silver at the 2023 World Championships, Swimming SA held back her prize money. According to her attorney, SSA told her in August 2023 that it was withholding the money because she faced a fine for not competing in the prescribed sponsor kit. SSA withdrew the fines soon after her lawyers sent a letter of demand in May 2024. The money was paid more than a year late, around the time of the Paris Olympics, and the interest it earned in the meantime was paid only after her lawyers demanded it and Daily Maverick reported on it. In September, SSA agreed to pay the full amount of interest she had claimed.
Do athletes really pay to represent South Africa?
Often, yes. Junior artistic swimmers were initially asked to pay almost R86,000 each to compete at their world championships, a figure that rose to R120,000 after several swimmers withdrew. Athletes on a provisional Pan Pacific Championships squad were told they would also have to cover the costs of accompanying staff. SSA disputes part of this: it said the Pan Pacs document related to a provisional squad, not a final national team. The federation also said it had absorbed extra pressure from the prolonged non-payment of approved National Lotteries Commission grants. Yet its own figures show athletes contributing an increasingly large share of high-performance costs.
The problem isn’t limited to swimming. Hockey players have described paying for almost everything themselves to represent South Africa: tournaments, visas, flights, accommodation and transport.
What does Gayton McKenzie have to say about this?
Sport, Arts and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie responded with a statement arguing that national federations are independent of government, run by their own boards and accountable to their international bodies, and that the department cannot cover all the costs of international competition. He said Smith’s choice “should not be turned into a political weapon”. He acknowledged the problems at SSA, including concerns raised by athletes, and said these were being addressed through a reform process overseen by World Aquatics.
Daily Maverick’s Annemieke Thomaidis argues in her analysis that the department may not run SSA, but it does help fund it, and so bears some responsibility for ensuring public money is spent properly.
Sports editor Craig Ray further argues that athletes across codes need an independent representative body to support their interests. DM
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