There seems to be no slowing down for Tatjana Schoenmaker at the Tokyo Olympics. This afternoon she just missed out on setting a new world record in the 200m-breaststroke.

She won her heat in a time of 2:19.16, which is only 0.05s slower than the record set by Sweden's Rikke Pedersen in 2013. Schoenmaker's winning time is a new Olympic record. In 2012 in London, Rebecca Soni (USA) won the gold medal swimming at 2:19.59. 

The Tuks based swimmer dominated from the moment she dived in, increasing her lead with each stroke. In the end, she finished more than three seconds ahead of Evgeniia Chikunova (ROC), who was second.

The fantastic thing about Schoenmaker's performance is that it is the fourth day that she has been competing. Yesterday she won a silver medal in the 100m-breaststroke. During the heats, she also set an Olympic record swimming at 1:04.82.

"I think today's performance is my best by far. I dropped another second. I am very happy about that. Obviously, I was a bit nervous coming from the '100m'. It is a whole extra 100m. I was not sure how I was going to feel. Then I heard my coach screaming. I thought I am I going to slow," said the Tuks based swimmer. 

"I think I was motivated after seeing my training partner, Kaylene Corbett, swim a massive personal best. She made the 'semis' ranking fourth. So she must be over the moon. 

"At the same time, I was scared that all that excitement was going to make me tired. But I kept my focus. I realised if Kaylene could have a good race, I could as well."

Schoenmaker has improved her personal best time in the 200m-breaststroke by five seconds over the last five years. In 2017 she swam 2:24.61. In April, she swam 2:20.17, and now her best time is 2:19.16. 

South Africa's Corbett won her heat in 2:22.48, improving her personal best by nearly two seconds.

"I can't believe what I had achieved. I had a difficult two years in which I did not once get close to swimming a personal best time. So, I had been quite discouraged ever so often. All I wanted to do at the Olympics Games was to swim at a personal best time. It is what I wanted out of the whole Tokyo experience."

When asked about her friendship with Schoenmaker, the Tuks based swimmer said they are like "sisters" in and out of the water. Sharing disappointments and highlights. 

"I have been privileged to swim every 200m-breaststroke final in which Tatjana medalled since the 2018 Commonwealth Games," an emotional Corbett said. 

"I can't explain the feeling of being there when Tatjana achieves her goals. It is inspiring not only to me but everyone in our training squad." 

Corbett misses not having a crowd in the stands but has tried to make up for it being the ultimate fan when not swimming. 

"We South Africans tend to be not quite. So it is important to us to encourage each other when we are competing. But, unfortunately, it has led to my voice taking quite a bit of strain."