ZIMBABWE young swimming sensation Donata Katai recorded her best time to win her heat in the women’s 100m backstroke race at the Tokyo Olympics on Sunday.
The 17-year-old recorded a time of 1:02.73 ahead of Maana Patel of India and Grenada’s Kimberly, who finished in their respective second and third in 1:05.20 and 1:10.24.
However, on the day that the 100m backstroke was broken twice, her time was not good enough to proceed to the semifinals, but with age on her side, she has achieved her goal of bettering her previous personal best time.
Katai, who went to the Olympics as part of her learning curve, has previously won African youth titles and broke youth records once held by two-time Olympic champion Kirsty Coventry, who ironically is now the Minister of Sport, Youth, Arts and Recreation.
Katai, the first black swimmer to represent Zimbabwe at the summer Olympics, finished 34 out 43 with two failing to start and the top 16 swimmers going through to the semifinals.
She comes back home with her head held high, considering that her preparations and what she has achieved, she can only get better with age and exposure.
Swimming in the shadows of Coventry, a two-time Olympic champion, was always going to be challenging to manage people’s expectations back home, but Katai has done pretty well to manage those expectations.
Going forward, if she is looking for any inspiration, Coventry made her Olympics debut as a 17-year-old at the Sydney games in 2000 but did not win any medals. She returned four years later to Athens, winning three medals.
