All hail Mzansi’s new queen

RISE, Queen Tatjana Schoenmaker, rise!

Let’s all hail our newest Olympic champion and world record holder for her stunning 200m breaststroke swim yesterday, where she fought back from second place to touch the wall first and clinch South Africa’s maiden gold medal at the Tokyo Games.

The last time we felt such joy in the Olympic arena was in 2016, when athletics stars Wayde van Niekerk and Caster Semenya became champions in Rio de Janeiro – with Van Niekerk also clocking a new 400m world record in the process.

Team SA had only two silver medals to shout about until yesterday, with Schoenmaker finishing second in the 100m breaststroke and Bianca Buitendag the runner-up in surfing.

But this time Schoenmaker was the favourite in the 200m, and she made sure of the title in a time of 2:18.95 in what former champion swimmer Penny Heyns described yesterday as an “absolutely perfect race”.

It was a long and winding road to this point for Schoenmaker, who narrowly missed out on qualification for Rio 2016, but now the 24-year-old from Pretoria is among South Africa’s sporting elite.

Schoenmaker’s teammate Kaylene Corbett also produced a new personal best time to finish in fifth place in the 200m final, which is a remarkable achievement considering that Team SA didn’t have a single female swimmer at the Rio Games five years ago.

Schoenmaker told Sports Minister Nathi Mthethwa in a video call yesterday that she hoped her success would “bring us back together” as a nation after the recent upheavals, as well as the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic which has killed more than 71 000 people in the country.

Judging by the elation on social media, that goal was certainly achieved.

It was wonderful to hear Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika ringing out at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre, and Springbok captain Siya Kolisi said Schoenmaker’s performance inspired the team ahead of today’s second Test against the British and Irish Lions in Cape Town.

After such a difficult few weeks and months, it was just the boost Mzansi needed.