The South African swimming legend, Penny Heyns, admits to being blown away by Tatjana Schoenmaker's world record performance at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. 

"The moment Tatjana touched the wall and realised she swam a world record, I got goosebumps," said Heyns, who was back at the Olympic pool deck for the first time in 21 years. 

"The way she swam the race was absolutely perfect. To be honest, I need to watch some video footage of it again because I can only remember bits and pieces. To me, everything is, at the moment, such a blur.

"I feel really blessed to be here and to have experienced all of this. I don't know why, but every time Tatjana does something incredible, I get emotional. Tatjana is to blame. It is the passion with which she celebrates those magic moments in the pool. You can't help but share that joy with her."

Schoenmaker won the 200m-breaststroke in 2:18.95 improving the world record set by Rikke Pedersen (Denmark) in 2013 by 0.16s. The Tuks based swimmer has swum three of the four fastest times ever in the 200m-breaststroke in Tokyo over the past few days. 

She set an Olympic record in the 100m-breaststroke swimming 1:04.82 and went on to win silver in the final.

"There are so many things that are special about Tatjana's performances. Her gold medal in the 200m-breaststroke is the first in 25 years to be won by a South African female swimmer at the Olympics. In addition, it is the first time in 22 years that one of the country's female swimmers set a world record."

Heyns won both the 100m and 200m breaststroke events during the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. During the Games, she set a world record in the 100m-breaststroke and swam an Olympic record in the 200m-breaststroke.

Heyns said, even Kirsty Coventry, the current Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation in the Cabinet of Zimbabwe, was moved by Schoenmaker's performance. Coventry is herself a winner of seven Olympic medals.

"Kirsty made an interesting observation saying when she won one of her gold medals, Zimbabwe was a country in crisis as is South Africa at the moment. She is hoping that Tatjana's achievement will somehow galvanise us as a nation. In South Africa's history, sports have often been a unifying factor during troubled times."