31 Aug 2023

Four Botswana swimmers will today leave for the World Aquatics Junior Championships to be held in Netanya, Israel from September 4-9. 

The four, Junior Keitsile, Tumo Matija, Mmusi Matthews and Melodi Saleshando will compete in different events ranging from butterfly, freestyle and backstroke. More than 600 swimmers from around 100 countries are expected to take part in the competition, which is promising to be mouth-watering. 

National team coach, Solomon Mpusetsang, said in an interview that all the four swimmers were ready to face the world. He said they had been preparing very well and therefore Batswana should expect Personal Bests (PB) times. 

He said the swimmers had been on winter camp, adding that they continued to train because they were aware that they had a big competition ahead of them. 

“I have no doubt I have a strong and competitive team that will leave a mark in Israel. One thing about this team is that they are very young and we are expecting a lot from them,” he said. 

The coach said there was no set medal target from the Botswana Swimming Sport Association, because the competition was as good as the Olympics and the swimmers who would be competing there had a lot of experience. 

“So the main aim is to just give them exposure against high performing athletes. 

Even the World Aquatics requires us to attend this competition even if we don’t have athletes who can finish on the podium,” he said. 

Keitsile, who competed at the Commonwealth Youth Games recently, promised to better his last performance. 

“Competing at the Commonwealth Youth Games has given me exposure and I think it would be a plus for me at the World Aquatics Junior Championships,” he said. 

Matthews said his intention would be to do his best and record PBs in his different events, adding that despite the fact that the competition is of high level, a medal for him would be inevitable. “It all about self belief. We have been preparing very well throughout and it’s time for us to go and compete,” he said. 

Matija said he has been preparing for the completion very well even at club level, as they had a camp and started swimming. 

He added that they were lucky because at Phoenix the pool was heated, hence they trained even during the cold weather. 

“Generally I am very ready, and I have been working very hard because the competition is big with a lot of fast swimmers there,” he said. 

Saleshando, on the other hand, said she was going to do her best and record PBs as well. 

She said she had been training hard both inside and outside the pool, sprinting and mentally preparing her mind. ENDs