Swimming siblings make waves in the pool

Calistus Kolantsho | Monday May 26, 2025 10:27

The rising swimming stars, coached by their father, Gondo Gondo, have carved their mark in the past decade. Gondo is the founder and coach of Stingrays Swimming Club in Francistown. The swimmers have represented Botswana at various international competitions. Ruvarashe, 23, the eldest sibling explained that in some communities, swimming is often seen as an unnecessary skill, something reserved for the wealthy, those who have a pool or live by the ocean. 'We must break this misconception,” she said. Ruvarashe started swimming at the age of six. At eight years old, she was selected to represent the Northern schools team at the Conference of Heads of Private Primary and Secondary Schools of Botswana (CHOPS). “I never looked back since then, I have always been on the podium. I am a multiple age group winner of the North vs South CHOPS primary schools galas. During high school, I represented John Mackenzie at the Independent Schools Association of Botswana (ISAB) and Independent Secondary Schools of Southern Africa (ISSSA) interschool galas, winning numerous awards, setting and breaking records in the process. I carried the same performance to the national team where I won medals, earned national age group titles and records during National Championships,” she said.

Ruvarashe has represented Botswana at the 2018 and 2021 AUSC Region V Games, Africa Aquatics Zone IV championships between 2016 and 2020, where she bagged medals. She said the highlight of her career was when she took part at the Argentina 2018 Youth Olympics. Ruvarashe competed in the 50m butterfly and 50m breaststroke, setting personal best (PB) of 32.01 and 37.13, respectively. “I am currently studying Degree in Sports Science Management at the Mount Saint Mary University in New York funded by Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC) Elite Scholarship. I am also training as an assistant coach at my university, and I hope to take that experience back home,” she said. The second born is Takundanashe, 20, and just like his sister, he started swimming at six years of age. He followed the same development pathway as his sister. His first big swimming gala was at the age of seven when he won a gold medal in the boys' Under-8 25-metre breaststroke at the Botswana Swimming Sport Association (BSSA) North vs South CHOPS Primary Schools swimming gala in 2012. Takundanashe said it has been an interesting journey this far, as a multiple medal winner in various swimming competitions, and group medallist at the BSSA national championships since 2015 to date. He has been on tour with the national team in various other tournaments, including the Africa Aquatics Senior Championships in Angola in 2024, as well as the AUSC Region V Youth Games in Lesotho (2021) and Malawi (2022).

Takundanashe has numerous medals in his cabinet, such as a bronze medal at the AUSC Region 5 (2021), two gold medals, and a silver medal at the Bulawayo Senior Championships (2023), as well as a bronze medal at the Africa Aquatics Zone IV swimming championships (2024). “I am the current national champion in the 50- and 100-metre backstroke events with leading times of 27.97 seconds in the 50m and 1.04.16 seconds in the 100m. I am part of the Diamond Trading Company (DTCB) Future Stars Development programme, a project funded by DTCB in partnership with the BSSA,” Takundanashe said. Matipaishe is the last born in the family of swimmers and followed the same development programme as her siblings. At 14 years old, she has already made a mark for herself at the CHOPS North vs South swimming galas. “I have been winning age group medals at the national championships since 2019 and I also hold several Botswana national age group records. I look up to my brother and sister and that motivates me. My dream is to win medals for my country at the 2032 Brisbane Olympics,” Matipaishe said.

She recently won a bronze medal at the 2025 South Africa national junior swimming championships held in Cape Town. “The competition was attended by 840 of the best age group swimmers from South Africa and Africa. The competition was used as the first stepping-stone for identifying future South African Olympians. I won the only medal for Botswana and set a new Under-14 national record of 35.56s in breaststroke,” she said. Matipaishe is part of the national team that will compete at the AUSC Region V Games in Windhoek, Namibia from July 3 to 14. At 14 years old, she is the youngest member of the team. Matipaishe is also part of the DTCB Future Stars Development programme. Their father, Gondo said his spouse, Demetria, was a swimmer during her school days. “We felt it was necessary to teach my children to swim as a life skill. I am also a former athlete, having competed in karate at different levels, including World Championships. We are now excited to see how this family of swimmers will shape the swimming world in the future,” said the proud father.

FACT FILES:

Full names: Ruvarashe Gondo Date of birth: April 1, 2002 Place of birth: Harare, Zimbabwe Profession: Swimmer and student Club: Stingrays Hobbies: Running and keeping up with current affairs Role model: Jamaican Alia Atkinson, the first black female swimmer to break a world record

Full names: Takundanashe Gondo Date of birth: July 1, 2004 Place of birth: Harare, Zimbabwe Profession: Swimmer and student Club: Stingrays Role model: Kobe Bryant Hobbies: Playing football and reading history books

Full names: Matipaishe Gondo Date of birth: November 23, 2010 Place of birth: Francistown Profession: Swimmer and student Club: Stingrays Role model: Ruvarashe Hobbies: Playing netball