Vusumuzi Dube
Nkosilathi Sibanda
STINGRAYS Swimming Academy continues to churn out first-grade swimmers who are making a mark in the United States, with the latest being Tsepang Vuyolwethu Ndlovu who has earned a scholarship at West Virginia University of Technology.
The 19-year-old swimmer becomes the Bulawayo-based academy’s seventh protégé to find a footing in the US where he is going to pursue studies in Psychology and also carry on with his journey in the sport.
Ndlovu, who started swimming in 2017, is a sprint swimmer who has won many competitions in the breaststroke and butterfly categories.
As a show of how good he is in the pool, Ndlovu is set to represent the country in the upcoming Worlds Aquatics Championships in Japan later this month.
The young swimmer already has a packed schedule as he prepares for the US, as he is bound for China to compete at the International University Sports Federation (FISU) World University games in August.
The former Christian Brothers College swimming captain said at West Virginia University of Technology he is also billed to compete at the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) games.
When he spoke of his journey in the sport, Ndlovu was elated at the prospect of going to the US and described it as one of his greatest achievements in her career.
“This is biggest achievement in the past seven years of my swimming career. I will be going to West Virginia University of Technology where I am going to be studying Psychology and also compete in the NAIA division starting in the month of August.”
Cutting his teeth in swimming at a young age, Ndlovu’s swimming skills caught the eye of the Matabeleland Team coaches in 2018.
“I made it to the Matabeleland swimming team in 2018 for the first time and I thought that was my greatest achievement, little did I know what was coming in the future. I later made it to the team for seven straight years.
I won many medals. So far that has put me in good standing in my short career as a swimmer as I have made quite a number of friends in different parts of the world,” she said.
He has steadily carved a name as one of Africa’s promising swimmers, having achieved a lot in competitions held in South Africa and Dubai.
“I was at Polokwane, South Africa’s Level 2 competition in 2019 where I won five gold medals, three silver medals and a bronze medal. From there on, I also made it to Level 3 this year in Durban and earned two bronze medals in 50 breaststrokes and 100-metre butterfly. In 2022 I was selected as one of the athletes to represent Zimbabwe Swimming at the African Union Sports Council Region 5 youth games in Lilongwe, Malawi.”
On the continental stage, Ndlovu competed in the Hamilton Aquatics Summer Sizzler Gala in Dubai where he won two bronze medals in 2022. As he journeys to the US, the swimmer will be following other swimming sensations produced by Stingrays Swimming Academy.
Other athletes from the academy who got scholarships and made it in the US are Andresious Cyprianos and his brothers Denilson and Brendon, Joash Mckony who is at Mars Hill university in North Carolina, Quintin Tayali, Jasper Mpofu (Point University) and Wandile Banda who is on a water polo scholarship.
Denilson is due to represent Zimbabwe in the coming Worlds Aquatics Championships in Japan this month. He will join Ndlovu at the FISU World University games in August.
Online Reporter