Trisha Mutumbulua: Overcoming the odds 

From a fear of water to becoming one of Namibia’s top young swimmers, Trisha Mutumbulua has come a long way.

But besides her achievements in the pool, she is also breaking barriers out of it, overcoming hardships and tragedy, and making her mark on the international stage.

Last month she was nominated for the athlete of the month award of the Eswatini athlete marketing and branding agency, Ligcabho Sports, which promotes athletes from Eswatini, South Africa and Namibia. Although she did not win, her popularity shone through.

Ligcabho Sports communications director Bongani Shongwe says they decided to support her career after she came to international prominence over the past year.

“We had been following Trisha’s athletics journey in her social posts, but only got to see her performances up close at the Africa Aquatics Zone IV Swimming & Open Water Championships in Eswatini last September,” he says.

“After seeing her amazing performances, we were convinced we had to reach out to her, to assist in branding her athletic journey since she is such a hardworker, kind to other athletes and finds balance in being a student-athlete, while training most of the time.”

At the Zone IV Championships, Mutumbulua won the 50m breaststroke in her age group, and established a few personal best times in other events.

“The athlete of the month incentive is meant to motivate, celebrate and encourage athletes to continue giving their all in training, promote sportsmanship qualities and encourage them to make friends with athletes from other countries. There’s a 15% private vote by fellow athletes to vote for each other via private ballot and Trisha received the highest votes by athletes in Eswatini, South Africa and Namibia,” Shongwe adds.

“She works hard and has an amazing heart. She has such great ideas and innovations that she wishes to bring to life, not only in sport, but in life in general, and we can only hope that more people will experience her beyond the national athlete, and see an ambassador for change, positivity and the potential witin the youth of Namibia,” he says.

OVERCOMING A FEAR OF WATER

It’s a glowing endorsement of a hardworking athlete and student who has shown great discipline and overcome many setbacks. Swimming, in fact, was a very unlikely sporting choice.

“I had a tremendous fear of water and even just bathing me was always a challenge for my mother. So she enrolled me with Dolphins Swimming Club at a very young age, which helped me overcome that fear, although sometimes it is still there when it comes to open water swimming,” she says.

Under the guidance of Dolphins coach Janis Stergiadis, Mutumbulua developed her swimming skills and showed the necessary dedication and perseverance to make her mark in the sport.

“Training can get hard at times, but it’s much easier when you have a productive and constructive team of swimmers, where they all show up at training and you kind of slipstream their energy,” she says.

She recalls the joy that her first medal brought to her late father.

“I was so afraid in my first race and I actually couldn’t finish it, but there was a second race in the 25m freestyle where I won a medal. My late dad was overjoyed and seeing his reaction inspired me to continue with swimming. He became my number one fan and from then I was regularly on the podium,” she says.

Mutumbulua made her national debut aged 13 when she represented Namibia at the Zone 4 Swimming Championships in Malawi in 2018, and from then on became a regular feature in Namibian teams at the Zone IV Swimming Championships and Region 5 Games.

“It was an amazing experience to represent my country. In Malawi I was part of the relay team that won two bronze medals, but the main prize for me, once again, was how happy it made my dad,” she says.

Mutumbulua had more highlights over the years like passing the magical 600 Fina points mark for the first time at the 2021 African Swimming Championships in Ghana, which was also the qualifying mark for the Junior World Championships, but unfortunately she could not go due to Covid.

“They shifted the Junior World Championships because of Covid, but they didn’t adjust the age, so later I found out that I was too old to go. But it was actually not too bad, because it was also a qualifier for the 2023 All Africa Games in Ghana, so I made that team,” she says.

A DECISIVE TURN

Mutumbulua remained a disciplined and hard working scholar, passing her matric at Deutsche Höhere Privatschule in 2022, and then doing her Abitur the following year. However, her life took a decisive turn when she was nominated by the Namibia Swimming Federation for a World Aquatics scholarship in Thailand.

She was based at the Thanyapura Sports Resort in Phuket where she trained under Russian coach Alex Tikhonov and learnt a lot form the experience.

“I was kind of at a standstill before moving to Thailand, but then I started training with Alex and my times slowly improved. I enjoyed the experience and learnt a lot, and I had an option to renew the scholarship, or move to another centre. I had to study at some stage so I decided to apply for a scholarship in Hungary, that combined swimming and academics,” she says.

Mutumbulua was once again accepted and moved to Budapest where she enrolled as a psychology student, while continuing her swimming training. Her Hungarian experience, however, was very tough as she and her fellow international swimmers on the course struggled to adapt to their new swimming coach.

“I had a very difficult time trying to adapt to my new coach in Hungary, who was not very constructive. I was basically just trying to survive as a person. It didn’t even matter how fast I swam, and my mental health really took a toll. It caused a lot of problems, not just for me, but for the other international swimmers as well, and it felt like we were working against someone instead of with someone,” she says.

“Two swimmers left the scholarship midway through their courses, with the risk of getting their countries blacklisted, but they just couldn’t take it anymore. There were also some racism cases made against him and eventually World Aquatics stepped in and he was fired. He was replaced by a new coach from Serbia and things are going much better now,” she says.

Despite all the hardships, Mutumbulua stuck it out and excelled in her academics as well, getting straight As in her last exam. She is now halfway through her course and determined to maintain her high standards. 

TRAGEDY STRIKES 

Tragedy struck at the end of last year when her father died. Mutumbulua had to rush back to Namibia in the middle of her exams for his funeral.

“He was sick for a long time but around Christmas he became extremely ill and was hospitalised. I wanted to come home, but he insisted that I stay and focus on my studies. When he died it was quite a numb feeling, but it was not really a shock because of how sick he was. I just felt it was maybe the best because he wouldn’t have to suffer anymore,” she says.

Mutumbulua says she is still trying to come to terms with his absence.

“He was always so proud of me. I was the highlight of his life. Nothing could top that pride and it’s going to be very hard to continue without him now. I still don’t feel it so much but if I were to qualify for the World Championships, God willing, it will be strange to celebrate it without him. It always felt like more of an achievement when he was there,” she says.

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