Online Reporter
Ellina Mhlanga
Zimpapers Sports Hub
OLYMPIAN Denilson Cyprianos believes sharing his experience as a swimmer could go a long way in motivating and helping upcoming athletes as they navigate their way to the top.
Cyprianos, a gold medallist at the 2023 African Games, held in 2024 in Accra, Ghana, also represented Zimbabwe at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
He stepped away from the sport last year to focus on his mental health after experiencing some individual challenges.
However, he has not totally turned his back on the sport, as he is taking time to give back, coaching young swimmers, and conducting swimming clinics in Bulawayo.
“I just do it out of the goodness of my heart and just try to get our swimmers better and keep moving forward.
“I coach for Stingrays. But in Bulawayo so far, I have been doing swimming clinics. I have done two different clubs so far,” said Cyprianos.
“I am hoping by the end of the year to have done all of the four in Bulawayo and then hopefully start looking at coming into Harare to start helping them.
“That’s kind of my goal, just trying to share the little bit of knowledge that I have on swimming with the young kids.
“Hopefully they build on that and go even further than I did. That’s my ultimate goal, just to see people keep progressing and keep moving forward.
“It’s not an easy sport, and sometimes it’s good to have that senior person who’s gone through everything come back and talk to you because I never had that when I was swimming. I had my big brothers, but they never went to the highest of levels.
“I just feel like I have the opportunity to impact some few lives that I get to touch, so I try my best to do that,” he said.
Cyprianos has been out of active competition for almost a year. “My last competition was in April last year. I haven’t trained since then. I have just been kind of working on myself, trying to focus on getting things back in order.
“I have had some challenges with my mental health. It’s been a bit hard, but it’s life. We are all struggling out here.
“I am just trying to keep that under control and stay motivated going forward.”
“Just a mental health break and just trying to get back to my full strength because I don’t feel like I have been in the position to give the sport 100 percent, and if I am not in the sport giving 100 percent, I didn’t see the use of even trying,” said Cyprianos.
However, he has not totally ruled out coming back to compete. “If I do decide to come back it’s going to be the hardest thing, I have ever done in my swimming career.
“But it’s going to be a challenge that I would love to tackle here in Zimbabwe and having trained in America, kind of prove to people that we can do it here not abroad.
“That would be amazing for me,” he added.
