To Malawian teenage swimmer Zahra Pinto, the 2008 Olympic Games is more of a journey for learning than performing.
Having swum in a long-course pool for the first time only days before coming to Beijing, the 14-year-old said Thursday that she would be happy if she could simply better her personal best at the Games.
"I am here to gain experience," said Pinto, who started to learn swimming at six and quickly emerged as the fastest female swimmer in her country, where there are no more than 100 professional swimmers.
After practising for two and a half hours at Beijing's National Aquatics Center, known as the "Water Cube", Pinto said she was amazed with the pool and the venue. "I am sure I would be really nervous (at the upcoming competition)."
Compared with Western swimmers who enjoyed high-tech training facilities and supports ranging from tailored swimming suits to chiropractor, it seems Pinto has lost the game from the very beginning. Without indoor pools in Malawi, she has to overcome sizzling sun or chilly water in training.
Before coming to Beijing, the girl got her first chance swimming in a 50-meter indoor pool in South Africa. "It's getting cold in Malawi. The temperature in the out-door pool is only 16 to 19 Celsius degree. It's too cold for swimmers," said Pinto's coach Yona Walesi, who is also the first domestic swimming coach in Malawi.
Pinto trained four to five days a week and one hour a day regularly in a 25-meter pool in Malawi. Walesi said it would be a challenge for Pinto to swim the long-course at the Beijing Games and they are not expecting good results.
"She has great potential. But as you know, she is very young and has no experience. We have to expose her to big events so that she could be better at the next Olympics," Walesi said.
Pinto will compete in women's 50 freestyle in Beijing and her competitors include U.S. veteran Dara Torres and Australia's world record holder Libby Trickett. Her best time is about ten seconds beyond the world record.
Walesi said swimming is a "new sport" in Malawi and the country has a total of three swimming clubs. "We hope more people could be interested in swimming in our country and the sports could be further developed."
Walesi's teammate, 19-year-old Charlton Nyirenda, will compete in the men's 50 meter freestyle.
According to the FINA qualification system, if a country or region has no swimmers qualified for the Olympics, it's allowed to enter one man and one woman to the Games.
The southeastern African country is dispatching four athletes to the Beijing Games which also comprises short distance runners Chancy Master and Lucia Chandamale.
(Xinhua News Agency July 31, 2008)