Toti swimming champ breaks record
Mica is currently ranked number one in the 800m freestyle.
From having no pool to train in and no coach, an Amanzimtoti swimmer has splashed through the odds to break a 16-year-old record. Monica Botha is the 11-years-and-under 200m freestyle record holder after she broke the 200m short course record set by Rene Warnes in 2003. The old record stood at 2.18.73 and the St Winifreds swimmer smashed it by almost three seconds when she clocked a 2.15.57 during the premier champs at the Kings Park 25m outdoor pool in December.
Mica, as she prefers to be called, had to wait until now for confirmation from KZN Swimming. “I didn’t know what the record was and I was just focused on swimming a 2.20. I was happy with my speed at the time, so it great to hear I had broken the record. It feels like I have achieved a goal and all my hard work and training is starting to pay off,” said Mica.
With the record she earned 252 points, to be awarded top 11-years-and-under at the champs, together with seven gold, four and two bronze medals, and eight personal bests (PB).
She started swimming as therapy for her asthma when she was six-years-old, but it quickly became evident the little girl was naturally talented in the pool. However, Mica and her parents, Jan and Marinda, had a tough start when she had no pool, no club and no coach in 2013. Not to be deterred, Jan started coaching her at the Virgin Active pool.
READ ALSO: Toti racer (12) to represent SA in Italy
As she progressed, so did his coaching and he is now a level three coach and Marinda is at level one. Mica is now a member of the North Coast Dolphins swim team and is the brand ambassador of the Aqua Lifestyle Centre, where she trains. Her story is inspirational, as she never gave up and is always the first in the pool and the last out.
Her next event is the prestige champs from 24 to 29 June at the JC Joliffe pool in Pietermaritzburg and she is focusing on the 200m individual medley (IM). “I enjoy all the strokes, but I’m more comfortable with butterfly. I find breaststroke the hardest and I have to work at it.”
Next up is the SA short course nationals at the same pool from 8 to 11 August, where she has qualified for the 50m, 100m, 200m and 400m freestyle, 50m, 100m and 200m backstroke and the 200m IM, plus three events. Swimmers may only swim in the events they qualify, plus three events they did not qualify in at any national champs. “We will decide closer to the entry date which other events I will swim or I just focus on the freestyle events.”
Most of the swimmers ahead of Mica will age up in June or July if they haven’t already. She swam the SA national juniors two weeks after her 12th birthday, so she has until next March to work on her rankings. However, by the time Swimming South Africa publish the rankings, she will have turned 13. Currently she is ranked number one in the 800m freestyle.
READ ALSO: Toti football club kicks off 2019 league season
At the junior champs, she finished fourth in the women 12-and-under in 400m long course freestyle with a PB of 5.02.30, fourth in the 200m freestyle with a PB of 2.21.78, seventh in the 100m freestyle with a PB of 1.04.98, and fifth in the 200m IM with a PB of 2.45.45.
Mica is home-schooled and she has just received her academic awards for grade 6. “I do four to five hours of schoolwork a day and science is my favourite subject. I do a 1.5km morning swim with my mom three times a week and I train from 4.30pm to 6pm five days a week. Having my dad as my coach is nice, but hard. He is a tough coach, but he tries to separate the pool dad from the home dad.”
When she is not in the pool, she enjoys online gaming and hanging out with the swimming friends she has made over the years at competitions. “I love animals, so I’m thinking of becoming a vet and I would love to study abroad. I’m of Dutch descent, so one of my future goals is to visit The Netherlands. Swimming has cleared up my lungs, but I still suffer from asthma and I hope I outgrow it one day.”
DID YOU KNOW?
Click on the words highlighted in red to read more on this and related topics.
To receive news links via WhatsApp, send an invite to 061 694 6047
The South Coast Sun is also on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest – why not join us there?
Do you have more information pertaining to this story?
Feel free to let us know by commenting on our Facebook page or you can contact our newsroom on 031 903 2341 and speak to a journalist.
(Comments posted on this issue may be used for publication in the Sun)
