Chronicle Editor
All stories by Brandon Moyo, [email protected]
ZIMBABWE has been home to sporting siblings, who became household names due to their unrivalled talents in their respective fields.
Some of the names that quickly come to mind when one talks about great sporting siblings include the Flower brothers in cricket, Andy and Grant, the Black family, Byron, Cara and Wayne in tennis, the Ndlovu brothers, Peter, Adam and Madinda in football and last but not least, the Tsimba brothers, Kennedy and Richard in rugby.
These siblings and others were born special, sharing a gene that saw them pursue the same profession and excel in it. Seeing kin follow each other’s footsteps is a very common phenomena in sport.
One Alexandra Sprouls wrote that for siblings, their existing bonds often grow stronger when competing in the same sport.
Following in the footsteps of the above-mentioned greats are two young siblings, who have taken the swimming community in Bulawayo and the country at large by storm.
Senamile Alizet and Shane Siqokoqela II Mphoko have become two big names in amateur swimming in the country.
As members of Bulawayo Amateur Swimming Association (BASA) and Stingrays Swimming Club, the two youngsters have been winning medals for fun wherever they compete and they both started swimming at a young age.
“For me as a mother I thought it was important for them to learn to swim at a young age as I had witnessed many kids drowning because of not knowing how to swim,” said their mother, Noma Mphoko.
She added that when they started school, they were given different sporting codes to choose from and they chose swimming.
Speaking to Saturday Chronicle, the soon to be 13-year-old Senamile, who is inspired by Kirsty Coventry, said it has been an interesting ride so far as she has had quite some success in tournaments that she has participated in this season.
She added that having her young brother taking part in the same sport motivates her.
“I just started swimming because my parents had put me into it, but it has been a great journey by the grace of God.
This season I managed to get some medals at school, senior nationals and at level three. It feels nice to have my brother taking up the same sport and it motivates me,” she said.
The Girls College student, who is not only gifted in sport but also academically, has had a stellar start to the year in the pool.
In the BASA senior championships she scooped a total of 17 medals, eight gold medals, seven silver medals and two bronze medals.
In the Junior Championships, the young swimming sensation took home five medals before going on to add four more to her already impressive tally in the Senior National Championships.
Her latest achievements came in Level Three Swimming Gala in Durban, South Africa where she scooped two gold medals. To cap that off, she is ranked the top swimmer in her age group at Girls College.
Her achievements not only come from the pool but in academics as well, she has been winning awards at school and has been promoted up her class.
“If you wish to take up swimming, just know that you will have to wake up early in the morning, so if you like swimming like that, do what you have to do, push hard and put God first,” said Senamile.
It runs in the blood.
Her young brother, Shane, the 11-year Whitestone School student has also been enjoying a sweet run in the pool and is also the top swimmer in his age group at school.
He also started swimming at a young age and also has her sister as motivation.
“Having my sister as a swimmer motivates me, if she wins, I also want to win. It can be difficult (swimming), I feel challenged when my sister beats me,” he said.
The BASA boys’ Under-12 captain said its exciting being the skipper and also feels proud of scooping medals wherever he goes.
Apart from swimming, he is also into athletics however, his first love is being in the pool.
In the BASA junior championships, he managed to scoop five medals, three gold and two silver before going on to take home 10 more medals in the national senior championships.
Of the 10 medals, six were bronze and four were silver.
Five more accolades followed in the junior nationals, comprising three gold, one silver and one bronze medal.
His latest accolades came from the Level Three championships where he brought home four bronze medals.
At the moment, the young swimming ace is the number one boys’ Under-12 swimmer in Matabeleland and Zimbabwe as a whole.
At school, he has been winning trophies, making and breaking records as a show of his unrivalled talents. Part of his achievements include winning the fastest individual medley when he was Grade Six, competing against higher grades.
Shane, also believes that success comes with hard work and one should be able to put in the work to achieve their goals.
“I would like to thank Mrs C (Nokuthula Cyprianos) and Mr C (the late Eddie Cyprianos) for seeing their talent, especially with Mr C, he just said keep them in the water and they will come out better swimmers and so far, the stamp is showing.
We remember him (Cyprianos) and we wish he was here to see what he groomed because when he started with them, they were still doing frog jumps and he encouraged them. We thank Stingrays family and their support,” said their mother.
Cyprianos was a renowned swimming coach, whom the two youngsters’ father, Siqokoqela Mphoko described as “not only his children’s coach, but also his brother.”
Despite being brother and sister and also loving the same sport, the two young swimming sensations have another thing in common, to don the national colours and win medals for Zimbabwe in the biggest stage, the Olympics.
The two youngsters will be competing in different championships and promised to continue winning more medals.
brandon_malvin
Online Reporter