Efforts to push up swimming in the north
Calistus Kolantsho | Saturday September 30, 2023 06:00
Selebi-Phikwe, which was affected by the closure of the BCL Mine, once had a vibrant swimming club with well-maintained facilities.
However, these facilities have now fallen into disrepair and the swimming club has relocated to Palapye, leading to a decline in the number of swimmers in the region. To address this decline, three coaches, Gondo Gondo of the Stingrays Club, Solomon Mpusetsang and Simon Tshwaane from the Propellers Club, organised a three-day swimming summer camp in Francistown.
The coaches are highly respected for their talent identification and grooming abilities. Tshwaane led a team at the 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games in Trinidad and Tobago, while Mpusetsang served as the national team coach at the 2023 World Aquatics Junior Swimming Championships in Netanya, Israel. Gondo has been actively involved in the Botswana Swimming Association (BSSA) and is a member of the BSSA technical committee.
The summer camp catered to young swimmers aged four to 14, focusing on improving their technical swimming skills to build a solid foundation for their future development as elite swimmers.
“Over the three days of the camp, swimmers worked on the technical aspects of swimming to improve their stroke efficiency,” he said. The coaches' shared vision is to nurture home-grown talent capable of competing and succeeding on the global stage. “Other National Sport Federations (NSA) such as athletics, boxing, and karate train their athletes locally by local coaches but they have become world icons. As citizens we are capable of doing what other coaches out there do, they have programmes that they follow.
We can do the same and in some instances, we are even better than them. All we need to do is have self-belief and groom our athletes,” he said. Gondo emphasised the importance of grassroots development and collaboration among coaches to create effective training programmes for swimmers of all ages and skill levels. He cited examples from neighbouring countries like South Africa and Zimbabwe, where shared knowledge and experience among local coaches have produced world-class swimmers.
“The plan now is for the summer swimming camp to be a bi-annual event, covering both the northern and southern parts of the country. We hope to grow the number of coaches who will be part of this camp so that our pool of knowledge is vast and diverse,” he said. Gondo said this initiative aligns with BSSA's strategic plan for the Long-Term Development Programme (LTDP), aiming to produce swimmers who can qualify and compete at the 2028 and 2032 Olympics. “The vision is possible with the support of relevant stakeholders.
During the camp, there was a swimmer with hearing impairment, Mmakgosi Tlhakanelo, 11, of Francistown. She has been swimming for the past five years. She will make her debut in the BSSA swimming gala this season,” Gondo said. He added the ultimate dream is to see Tlhakanelo compete at the World Deaf Swimming Championships.