Four of Namibia’s top junior swimmers leave for Sante Fe, Argentina on Thursday to compete at the World Aquatics Junior Open Water Swimming Championships.
Tristan Nell (18 years), Alex Marggraff (18), and the Bergh siblings Madison (17) and Riley (15), will take on the world’s best in Argentina and after months of hard work are now ready for the challenge.
Their coach Jorn Diekmann says they are well prepared.
“The swimmers have prepared well and are looking forward to it, so we are excited to go and compete. They’ve been training very hard and I’m expecting some good results, maybe not among the front runners yet, but I’m hoping to be very high up in the middle pack,” he says.
“They competed at the World Junior Championships in Sardinia, Italy two years ago while they also competed at the Africa Championships earlier this year in Mauritius where they did very well. Madison won gold and silver in two different categories of the 5km swim, Riley won a silver medal, and Tristan won a few medals, so it was a very successful tour for us,” he adds.
Madison Bergh says she has high hopes of doing well.
“We’ve been preparing for this event for a very long time and I’m really excited. I’m really well prepared and I definitely want to make some waves over there. I was at the world championships in Italy two years ago it was quite tough over there but this time I’m aiming to finish in the top 20 to make a statement for Namibia,” she says.
“I recently swam at the African Champs in Mauritius where I did pretty well. I won a silver medal in the Junior African Championships, and a gold medal in the Africa Zone 4 Championships, while I came third overall in the women’s field, so I was really happy with that and it gave me a lot of confidence for Argentina,” she adds.
Tristan Nell says he is excited and looking forward to the championships.
“We’ve been training long for this competition and the training sets were especially made to get our bodies used to the competition so I’m really excited to see what I’m capable of doing at the World Junior Champs.
“I was at the previous world champs in Italy and did really well there so I’m hoping to use that experience to try and perform better in Argentina.
I’ve also been to the Africa Champs where I did well – I got three bronze medals and one silver, so I’m trying to replicate that form at the junior world junior champs,” he adds.
The vice president of the Namibia Aquatic Sports Federation (Nasfed), David Nell said it is a great opportunity for the swimmers.
“Our swimmers will be competing on the international stage against the best junior swimmers in the world, so hopefully they will not just show up but also compete, and show that Namibia is competitive on the world stage as well,” he says.
“I think it’s a great opportunity not only for our swimmers, but also for our federation, to be able to send a competitive team – they are very well prepared and since the beginning of the year they have specifically been preparing for this event,” he adds.
Nell says the swimmers have not received any financial support and that their parents have to foot the bill to enable them to compete.
“We haven’t had the privilege to get sponsors on board, so the parents had to raise the funds to send their children. But it’s a good investment in the kids, they’ve worked hard throughout the years and you don’t want to be in a position where you can’t send them,” he says.
“But yes, we are always looking for sponsorships, so if there are any companies that can support us, and make a dream come true for these families, we will appreciate it because that’s essentially what it is – it’s a dream come true and you might not get these opportunities again,” he adds.
