South Africa swimming chief calls Tatjana Smith's switch to Netherlands 'sad'

Tatjana Smith announced on Wednesday that she will switch her sporting allegiance to the Netherlands, a move Swimming South Africa acting CEO Zikie Molusi described as "sad" for the country.

Smith, formerly Schoenmaker, won one gold and one silver medal at both the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympic Games and is a double Olympic champion; the 29-year-old has dual citizenship because her father is Dutch and was in tears when she made the announcement. She previously said financial worries, including a dispute over prize money with Swimming South Africa, contributed to her decision to step away from the sport after Paris 2024 and she came out of retirement in September.

Molusi, the acting CEO of the governing body, told eNews Channel Africa: "When I received that correspondence from Tatjana we understood because she has been really generous and kind enough to articulate the rationale that informed the decision."

Speaking to Radio 702, Molusi accepted that Swimming South Africa should not have withheld prize money from Smith following the 2023 World Championships, saying that was caused by conflicting sponsorship agreements but "it shouldn't have happened".

Of the 21 athletes competing for South Africa at the Worlds next month, Molusi said "probably 50% will be subsidised fully", with the rest receiving partial support, and added: "It's an ecosystem issue within South African sport that possibly needs to be dealt with." He also said: "This comes as a result of the inadequate funding that sport federations are receiving."

The 29-year-old, who has won four Olympic medals, is set to represent the Netherlands for the first time at the World Championships from 1-6 December and said the move "offers greater high-performance support" and would give her "the potential to build a more sustainable career". She added that the "financial and practical challenges of swimming were among the reasons my previous career became difficult to sustain" and that South African athletes "deserve a system that gives them an opportunity to thrive, not just survive".

Molusi said the decision was of particular consequence because South Africa had been preparing to take the team to Beijing for the short course World Championships in December.