Sports
Marist School.
TPS: What is the actual name of the
college where you are studying and
what are you studying towards?
TM: I haven’t made a decision yet on
where I am going for university. I’m still
weighing my options to see which school
will give me the best education and help
me excel in my swimming.
TPS: How do you balance the swimming
and the schoolwork?
TM: School comes first. I try to get
some of my homework done during
school so that I can have a focused mind
at practice. I don’t want to worry about
the literature paper during practice.
Sometimes it gets difficult when I have
to travel for meets but it’s nothing I can’t
handle.
TPS: You have been given positions
of responsibility in your swimming
team such as captaining the team. Is
this true and if so, how does it feel
to be leading out your troops on the
competitive US swimming circuit?
TM: Yes, I was the swim co-captain
of my school’s swim team. It was a big
responsibility. I remember when I was
younger and all the senior captains made
my experience special. So the first thing
I asked myself was to come up with a
strategy to make the season special for
someone else. I think I achieved that
because my team mates have come to me
to say they appreciated very much my
leadership. Oh! I was also captain of my
house at St Michaels in Borrowdale way
back when I was in the third grade.
TPS: You’ve probably spent a lot of time
away from Zimbabwe. What would you
say is your most cherished memory of
your motherland?
TM:
My
grandparents.
My
grandparents and I were and still are
very close. I try my best to keep in
touch. It was hard in 2011 when
I lost my grandmother, my mom’s
mother. We were very close and I
still remain very close to her even
though she is gone.
TPS: In Zimbabwe, most of our sports
persons have nicknames. Have your
colleagues that side come up with
one for you yet?
TM: Well a lot of my
teammates
call
me
Black Thunder. My cocaptain, Will Herbert,
is nicknamed White
Lightning. At the
swim galas,
we
would always bring
the noise - Thunder
and Lightning.
TPS: Most of us
Zimbabweans
dream of
America
as
the
promised
land. From
your perspective, life in
America - what is it like?
TM: It’s different; it’s a
great place to be but there is
nothing that beats the feeling
of being on one’s home soil.
TPS: At the moment,
you’re still developing as a
swimmer. Where do you see
yourself in five years’ time?
TM: I always imagine myself
as an Olympian. I. I want to be
one of the best and I feel that if
I keep working hard and pushing
myself, I will certainly get there.
TP
Images courtesy of berecruited.com & Boys
Swimming, Marist School, Atlanta, USA
The Parade - Zimbabwe’s Most Read Lifestyle Magazine
April 2013
Page 57