BREAKING: First Individual World Record Shattered at Tokyo Olympics 2020 as Tatjana Schoenmaker Clocks 2:18.95

Records keep tumbling at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. South Africa’s Tatjana Schoenmaker put in an excellent swim to break the world record for the women’s 200-meter breaststroke event. Notably, this is the first world record to be broken in an individual swimming event in this year’s Olympics. Earlier, the relay teams from Australia and China broke records in their respective relay competitions.

Schoenmaker’s performance in the breaststroke was quite incredible. With her swim, the 24-year-old handed South Africa their first gold medal in this year’s Olympics.

Schoenmaker creates history at Tokyo Olympics 2020

The USA’s Lilly King started well and led the race for the first 150-meters. However, Tatjana raised her stroke speed and came from behind to touch the wall before King. Moreover, Tatjana swam at a world record pace for all her splits. It was a controlled and very well monitored swim by the South African. She set a time of 2:18.95.

After her silver medal at the World Championships in South Korea, she looked determined to take home the gold. In a dominant display of technique and composure, the South African produced the greatest individual display in the 200-meter breaststroke.

Meanwhile, Americans took home silver and bronze in this race. Despite Lilly King leading for most of the race, she finished in second with a time of 2:19.92. Annie Lazor finished third and set a time of 2:20.84.

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Glorious display from the Americans

The silver and bronze medals brought delight to the USA as King and Lazor provided a stunning finish to the race. King was the swimmer who was expected to win the competition following her exploits in Rio. She won two gold medals in Rio 2016. Having already won a bronze medal for the 100-meter breaststroke, she couldn’t secure gold in the 200-meter event either.

The dominance of the Americans in the swimming pool has not been the same as it was before. Ariarne Titmus beat Katie Ledecky in the 400-meter freestyle- an event in which Ledecky dominated for years.

Furthermore, the relay teams couldn’t provide the spark as China became the surprise winners in the 200m freestyle relay competition. However, with Caeleb Dressel amongst the ranks, all is not lost.

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The 200-meter breaststroke event ended with a bang. The South African’s dominance was there for everyone to see. She lit up the Tokyo Olympics with her incredible swimming display and provided a glorious moment to the Games’ highlight reel.