Tatjana Smith happy with Olympic times ahead of finals

The Tokyo Olympics silver medallist demonstrated her ambition to clinch a gold medal in Paris, completing both the heats and semifinals in a leading time of 1:05:00 yesterday.

She is now among the top contenders to win the final at the Paris La Défense Arena tonight at 9.19 pm, and is relishing her experience on the big stage. 

"I'm just so grateful to be swimming some good times, I haven't been close to my times since Tokyo, so this is my best times since then," said Smith.

"Obviously it's amazing to swim good times, but I think most of all I'm really enjoying every race, and I'm much happier, so it doesn't matter what the times are, I think just experiencing these races and being happy is exactly what I want to be this time."

Smith insists she gave it her all without holding back, however, she believes she can push even harder in preparation for the big final tonight at 21:25 (SA time).

"I wouldn't say I ever hold back, as you can see in the heats, I give it my all and in the semis, so every single race I give my best – I never try and hold back," she defended.

"I always try and challenge myself, so it's just about recovering and coming back to the finals, but I'm going to prepare as well as I can and we'll see how it goes."

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