12 Sep 2023

Four Botswana swimmers who competed at the World Aquatics Junior Swimming Championships which were held in Netanya, Israel arrived home on Monday.

Though none of the swimmers, Melodi Saleshando, Junior Keitsile, Mmusi Matthews and Tumo Matija, proceeded to the next leg of the competition, their coach, Solomon Mpusetsang said he was happy with their performance as some of them had registered their Personal Best (PB) times.

“I think generally we have achieved what we set out to do and remember the main goal was to give the swimmers exposure to competition at the highest level,” he said.

Mpusetsang said the swimmers showed a lot of character during the competition, adding that as they would be going back to the drawing board there was need for coaches at national level to unify their efforts.

“My wish is that Botswana Swimming Sports Association (BSSA) should facilitate that club coaches should work together closely and have local camps, so that the coaches can have the opportunity to have a look at these top swimmers,” he said.

He disclosed that he would also give the coaches an opportunity to look at the swimmers training programme, and make recommendations.

He said given their talent and potential, swimmers such as Keitsile, Matthews and Matija could be ranking high.

Mpusetsang said though Saleshando was one of the youngest competitors at the championships, she managed to outclass some older swimmers.

He said out of the 10 events she registered for, she clocked PB time in nine of them and set five national age group records. Ends