2020 NTS CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Thursday, December 10th – Tuesday, December 15th
- Hillcrest Swimming Pool, Pretoria, South Africa
- LCM (50m)
- Results – Meet Mobile
The 2020 Northern Tigers Swimming Championships concluded today from Pretoria, with swimmers given a chance to compete in long course meters before the holidays. This meet is finishing up on the heels of the announcement that both the Grand Prix – Durban, as well as the KZNA Premier Provincials slated for this upcoming weekend have both been canceled.
The highest-profile swimmer to dive in at Hillcrest was 2018 Commonwealth Games champion and 2019 World Championships silver medalist Tatjana Schoenmaker. Representing Tuks University, 23-year-old Schoenmaker completed a sweep of the breaststroke events, topping the podium in the 50m, 100m and 200m.
Stopping the clock in a time of 30.52, Schoenmaker broke both the South African national record, as well as the overall African continental record in the 50m sprint.
Entering this meet, Schoenmaker’s PB rested at the 30.82 she earned en route to placing 4th at the aforementioned Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast. That time stood on the books for 2 years until the ace hacked exactly .30 off of the effort in Pretoria this weekend.
Last year in Gwangju, Schoenmaker came up just short of making the semifinal in this event, settling for 17th place in a time of 31.40. Her 30.52 from this weekend would have placed 6th in the final.
Schoenmaker’s 100m breaststroke time here at HIllcrest came in at 1:06.74 while she took the 200m breast in 2:25.98.
Additional Notable Results
- 18-year-old Dune Coetzee wrangled up multiple golds at this meet at which swimmers were reportedly not tapered. She clocked a time of 4:13.75 in the 400m free, while also snagging victories in the 100m free (57.46) and 200m free (2:02.32). The 200m fly also fell victim to Coetzee, with the World Championships swimmer earning a time of 2:11.44.
- 16-year-old Pieter Coetze also made things happen across several events, swimming unrested across the 50m free, 100m free, 100m fly, 200m IM and 50m back among his events. His 100m fly time came in at 54.89, comprised of splits of 25.67/29.22. Coetze was the teen who wound up taking home 6 golds at the South African Regionals Meet just a handful of months ago.