In one of his hits, the rock legend Meatloaf sang two out of three ain't bad. In light of this the TuksSwimming head coach, Rocco Meiring, can justifiably claim that six out of 12 "ain't bad".

Six of the 12 swimmers who swam A-qualifying times during the recent SA National Aquatic Championships in Gqeberha are from Tuks. 

Meiring hesitates to use the word ecstatic when asked how this came about. 

"As a coach, I am more relieved that the swimmers peaked at the right time. It has been challenging, especially since they needed more opportunities to compete in the build-up to the national championships. You can train all you want, but it will never compensate for the lack of racing. 

"This year, Tatjana (Schoenmaker) raced only once before SA's. It was in February in Lausanne, Switzerland. As for the rest of the Tuks swimmers who qualified, the last time they swam competitively was in early March."

Despite this, Schoenmaker's performances at the national champs were still impressive. She won the 200m breaststroke in 2:22.44, which is currently the second fastest time in the world. The Tuks swimmer won the 100m-breaststroke in 1:05.89. It is also the second fastest in the world. 

Meiring ascribed Schoenmaker's performances to her being in good head space. According to him, there can be no shying away from Schoenmaker being one of the best in the world. She has, after all, swum a world record (2:18.95) during the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games. The record is still standing.

"What changed is Tatjana's focus. Her primary goal is not to win a gold medal next year in Paris at the Olympic Games. She wants to enjoy her 'journey' to the Games. But having said this, Tatjana is a true competitor. She wants to be competitive every time she races. Hopefully, that will lead to her winning a gold medal again."

Regarding Schoenmaker beating the Commonwealth Games champion, Lara van Niekerk, in the 100m-breaststroke, Meiring said it is essential to know that there is no rivalry between them.

"Lara is a world-class sprinter. She is going to win many more races in the 100m breaststroke. That is exciting for South African swimming.

"Tatjana's goal is never to be a champion in the 100m-breaststroke. She only swims the 100m breaststroke because it helps her improve her top-end speed over 200 metres. If she can't swim sub 1:06 times over 100 metres, she has problems. It will mean she is not capable of swimming world-class times in the 200 metres.

"It is for the same reason I 'forced' Tatjana to swim 400m-freestyle on the last day of the championships. It is an excellent way to establish where her endurance levels are at. Her challenge was to see how close she could come to equalling her best time. She swam 4:25.27 in the heats. It is only a second slower than her best time."

The Tuks swimmers who achieved A qualifying times for the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan include:

Women: Emma Chelius (50m freestyle), Duné Coetzee (400 and 800m freestyle), Kaylene Corbett (200m breaststroke), Erin Gallagher (50 and100m butterfly), Tatjana Schoenmaker (50, 100 and 200m breaststroke).
Men: Pieter Coetzé (50, 100m and 200m backstroke) and Matt Sates (100m butterfly).