The future also looks bright, with Takundanashe Gondo amongst the emerging talent to drive the sport forward. There are other notable young swimmers, Adrian Robinson and Maxine Egner, who are currently based overseas. Gondo is proving that he has a bright future in the sport after he emerged with four gold medals and a bronze at the 2025 Zimbabwe Senior National Swimming Championships held in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, over the weekend. He also set six new personal best times. Gondo, 20, was born to a Motswana father and a Zimbabwean mother. “I train at Stingrays Swimming Club in Francistown, a Botswana Swimming Sports Association (BSSA) affiliate. The club is based at John Mackenzie School. I started swimming at five-years-old under the tutelage of my father,” he told MmegiSport this week.
Gondo’s 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 BSSA North vs South Conference Heads of Private Schools (CHOPS) primary schools swimming gala in 2012. In 2014, CHOPS changed its name to the Independent Schools Association of Botswana (ISAB). Gondo said the event marked his arrival in the waters. Since then, he has been a member of the North Botswana Primary Schools swimming team, winning numerous medals in the process. “In 2017, in my final year of primary school, I was nominated the boys' captain for the northern schools' swimming team. In that very same year, I made my national swimming debut, representing Botswana at the CANA Zone IV Africa Swimming Championships in Zimbabwe. CANA has now changed to Africa Aquatics Zone IV. Ever since 2017, I have been a regular member of the national team. I have represented my country in six tours,” he said.
Gondo also went on a tour with the national team in various other tours 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). Gondo 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). Gondo is the current national champion in the 50- and 100-metre backstroke events with leading times of 27.97 seconds (50m) and 1.04.16 seconds (100m). Gondo is also part of the Diamond Trading Company (DTCB) Future Stars Development programme, a project funded by DTCB in partnership with the BSSA.
He said his goal is to qualify for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. The swimmer is currently on a four-year training programme that started in August 2024 ending in July 2028, which is meant to assist him in achieving his Olympic dream. “I wish to be an ambassador for swimming in Botswana and try to spread the gospel of swimming to all four corners of this country. I wish to see swimming as accessible as possible to all Batswana and not the privileged few,” he added. “My role model is the late Los Angeles Lakers basketball star, Kobe Bryant, because of his work ethic,” he added. His father, who is also his coach, Gondo Gondo, said he is impressed by his son's steady progress over the years. “He has been disciplined and trusts the process. The results are starting to show, and we are looking forward to some fast times ahead,” Gondo senior added. Besides swimming, Takundanashe is a footballer, having played and captained John Mackenzie High School's first team to its first ever Independent Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSSA) interschool trophy in 2023.
FACT FILE
Full name: Takundanashe Gondo Place of birth: Harare, Zimbabwe Date of birth: July 1, 2004 Profession: Swimmer Club: Stingrays Swimming Club Outstanding achievements: Boys team captain during: CANA Zone IV (2022), AUSC Region V Games (2022), Africa Aquatics Senior Championships (May 2024), Africa Aquatics Zone IV Swimming Championships (December 2024) Hobbies: Passionate supporter of Chelsea Football Club
