Swimming South Africa (SSA) acting president Zikie Molusi has responded to the shocking news of Tatjana Smith switching allegiance and joining the Netherlands before the 2028 Olympic Games.
In a podcast interview with Sunday World, Molusi said it was more a financial decision, judging by the timeline of events, rather than her struggles with Mzansi’s swimming federation.
Accomplishments
Smith is SA’s most accomplished and decorated Olympian after winning gold in the 200m breaststroke and 100m silver at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, before adding 100m gold and 200m silver in 2024. She also won four world and Commonwealth gold medals between 2018 and 2023.
Smith has dual citizenship and she said she has “always been Dutch and South African” and that this was an opportunity to “explore another part of my identity and heritage that I’ve never experienced through sport”. She said it also offered her greater high-performance support and the potential to build a sustainable career.
Notified via e-mail
Molusi said he had been shocked when he received Smith’s e-mail: “I had to read that letter like three to five times in order for me to understand its content. And in deciphering it, I came to one conclusion: that this is basically a correspondence that says a decision has been made by Tatjana.
“I was taken aback. She requested that I treat that letter in strict confidence up until she made the announcement on Tuesday. I respected that and hence, we never took it to the board to discuss it. Now the question is: Were we given an opportunity to engage with her to be able to persuade her differently? That letter did not give me that option.”
“One can realise in hindsight now that this is not a decision that was done overnight. It has been a long time coming, particularly, because you would be aware that post 2024 Paris Olympics, Tatjana announced her retirement. And we accepted that as much as it was a bit of a painful decision.
“Recently, she announced that she was making her way back into the swimming pool. As SSA, we think that this is an individual decision. And my understanding on that letter is that it … is a financial decision that she’s taken.”
Money owed
Molusi also cleared the air about reports and allegations that SSA owed Smith money: “There’s absolutely no cent that SSA owes Tatjana … SSA has a contract with an attire sponsor called Arena … The contract … dictates that our swimmers will be expected to swim in the attire or the gear that is provided. Now, on a number of occasions, I was not there, and that’s what the report states, that Tatjana would accept the gear that the national federation gives her, the Arena gear, and only to find out that when she comes out to swim, she comes out in a different brand in this instance, which is Speedo.
“What then even baffles us worse is to know that Tatjana’s husband, who is her agent and her manager, is actually an agent of Speedo ,” he added.
Molusi stopped short of saying that during her emotional interview with Carte Blanche, Tatjana was performing for the cameras. “It really gives an impression that this is staged .”
- Swimming South Africa (SSA) acting president Zikie Molusi has responded to the shocking news of Tatjana Smith switching allegiance and joining the Netherlands before the 2028 Olympic Games.
- In a podcast interview with Sunday World, Molusi said it was more a financial decision, judging by the timeline of events, rather than her struggles with Mzansi’s swimming federation.
- Accomplishments Smith is SA’s most accomplished and decorated Olympian after winning gold in the 200m breaststroke and 100m silver at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, before adding 100m gold and 200m silver in 2024.
- She also won four world and Commonwealth gold medals between 2018 and 2023.
- Smith has dual citizenship and she said she has “always been Dutch and South African” and that this was an opportunity to “explore another part of my identity and heritage that I’ve never experienced through sport”.
