Injury rules Van Der Merwe out of AYG
Thato Kala | Thursday May 15, 2014 11:23
Van Der Merwe is set to be replaced in the eight-member team by Michael Botha.
It is not yet clear whether the young swimmer who qualified for the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympics after a good performance in Cape Town in March will be ready for the games later in the year.
Swimming coach, Darrell Morton said Van Der Merwe got injured during a school competition.
'He broke his wrist, it was some school fixture, and we are told he fell and broke his wrist,' Morton told Mmegi Sport.
Van Der Merwe's departure leaves Pretoria-based duo of David Van Der Colff and Naomi Ruele as the two leading lights for Botswana in the swimming competition, which starts on May 23 at the University of Botswana Swimming Pool.
The team has set a target of five medals. The South Africa-based swimmers will arrive a day before the Games start.
Van Der Colff, Tanya Toth and Ruele are training at the High Performance Centre in Pretoria. Kitso Matija, Kgosi Molefinyana, Amantle Mogara, who train at the Darrel Morton School of Swimmers and Seabe Ebineng complete the Botswana team.
Van Der Colff was recently in the country and said he is upbeat they will reap medals come May 23. He said they train twice a day either in the gym or swimming pool. He hailed the decision to take them to the HPC saying they have access to world class facilities and this has helped them a lot in their preparations.
'We are getting more advanced knowledge at the High Performance Centre, the facilities are quite good and world class. We are also privileged to get more advice from knowledgeable people there.' Van Der Colff said he is ready for the games and considers it a privilege to represent the country. He tips Ruele to do well at the Games.
'Naomi is also doing good in Pretoria. I think we have good chances to do well at the Games,' he said.
The swimming team's preparations started gathering pace last December when they took part in two competitions - the 10th Africa Youth Championships in Zambia and the National Swimming Championships in Gaborone.