Deaf swimmer thrives against odds
Calistus Kolantsho | Saturday November 25, 2023 06:00
An energetic 11-year-old girl, Mmakgosi is brimming with confidence and on her first encounter, one would not believe that she has severe-to-profound hearing loss, which means she is deaf. Her mother, Wame Tlhakanelo told MmegiSport that her daughter is a special child and does not allow anything to stand in her way.
“When you see her in the swimming pool, her dives being at par with kids with normal hearing, you will not believe that she did not even hear the starting gun go off for a swimming heat to commence,” said the proud mother. Born 11 years ago in Francistown, Mmakgosi was a little girl who reached all her baby milestones well. Wame said her daughter has always loved water, she used to love jumping into swimming pools with no fear even at one-year-old and they had to keep an eye on her always.
She said Mmakgosi always refused to get out of the water tub until her little skin was wrinkled, hence the nickname 'Dolphin' from her father. “Like they say, mothers know best, I noticed that she was different at around two years when she could not even say 'mama'.
I took her to the hospital and was told not to worry she would talk, at two and a half years, we went for a second opinion and she was diagnosed with hearing loss at a clinic in South Africa,” she said. Wame explained that the journey of speech therapies, fitting hearing aids, and ensuring that she used them, began at three years.
She said Mmakgosi was already three years behind her peers but because she is a little fighter, she caught up in a remarkable way that she amazed even the speech therapists and audiologists with her progress. “She attended a mainstream school (normal of hearing school) and did so well and even got awards including reading awards. She stayed there until Standard 3 when we noticed that it was getting harder for her to cope in a class full of other children because she needed more one-on-one time for her to hear all instructions,” Wame explained.
She said they tried school for the deaf as advised but a week later they were told that she did not qualify as she could talk and hearing aids helped her. She said they decided to enrol Mmakgosi in homeschooling, hired a teacher, and bought a whole programme from a British school called Wolsey Hall. According to available information, Wosley Hall, founded in 1894, is one of the longest-established homeschooling colleges in the world offering courses in Primary, Secondary, IGCSE, and A-level subjects to home scholars in more than 120 countries. “She is an excelling 'A' student in year five, which is equivalent to Standard 6 here back home," Mmakgosi's mother said. "When she started homeschooling we wanted her to continue interacting with other kids, keeping her old friends, and having a sport to do. We knew she loved the water. It did not need much talking so we suggested joining a swimming club and her eyes brightened up as she said, ‘yes’.
That was almost three years ago,” Wame said. She said Francistown-based Stingrays Swimming Club effectively became Mmakgosi's second school. Wame said her child loves swimming and she blended in so quickly with coaches who push her, who believe in her potential, and who advocate for her as she is currently the only “loss of hearing swimmer” in the country. “Her condition is new to everyone and I see the amazing support my daughter is getting from the club and BSSA. Even though we are in the winning team where there is support from the coaches and swimming mates, the challenges are there,” she said. Wqme explained that being the only deaf swimmer in the country, some days can be difficult for her and that makes her very uncomfortable during swimming galas.
“I will see the confidence light that she always has dimming a bit because many people do not know how to talk to her and I know they do their best. Sometimes it is hard for her to make friends because of her inability to communicate. Her only friends are her teammates and that can be hard for an 11-year-old child,” an emotional Wame said. Mmakgosi uses high-powered behind-the-ear hearing aids. They are aids for people with severe-to-profound hearing loss. The aids are a little larger than other aids and usually worn behind the ear with a custom earmold. “My wish for my daughter is to reach for the stars, to be able to go for Para- swimming championships. I want to see her be whatever she puts her mind to because she is so smart and is a hard worker,” said the proud mother.
Her coach, Gondo Gondo said Mmakgosi joined Stingrays Swimming Club in 2021 after her mother approached them asking if they could train a child with a hearing impairment. “It was something we had never done as a swimming club before and definitely something I had never done as a swimming coach.
But after meeting her and discovering how excited she was to swim, Demitria Gondo (our Learn to Swim coach) and myself decided to enrol her with the club, and so Mmakgosi's swimming journey began,” he said. Gondo said despite Mmakgosi's hearing challenges, she took to swimming like a duck to water. “Besides the occasional repeating of instructions for her to understand some of the training sets, Mmakgosi does not need any special treatment during training,” he said. Mmakgosi made her debut in the BSSA competition this month in the girls' 50m freestyle, posting an impressive opening time of 56.34.
FACT FILE
Full names: Mmakgosi Tlhakanelo Place of birth: Francistown Date of birth: April 4, 2012 Favourite colour: Pink Swimming club: Stingrays PB: 50m freestyle; 56.34