A long way with determination

Antonia Sophie Roth, better known as Toni, is an 18-year-old swimmer, who grew up in Windhoek. She has achieved great goals with her swimming career and academic achievements, which got her to be the second-best candidate in the country with her NSSC results last year.
At the young age of five, Toni started swimming at the Marlins Club Windhoek and her determination kept her going even though she changed her mind as a child constantly concerning her sport. She then just simply “stuck with it”, and it proved to be nothing but beneficial, since she has competed in many different countries.
“Swimming has allowed me to travel and see so many different cultures. I’ve been to Mauritius, Qatar, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Zambia, the United Arab Emirates, Nigeria, and South Africa. All the while I got to represent my club and my country,” Toni shared.
“The most fun and adventurous competitions I’ve done though were all African Championships. I’ve been to some really challenging and fun tours to Zambia, Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Botswana,” she added. However, training for important swimming galas is not an easy task, Toni explained. “When I’m in peak training I do nine sessions in the pool every week. The sessions are between one and two and half hours long. Additionally I do five gym sessions a week and a couple of additional ‘dry land’ classes.”
This led to her competing with joy and great achievement, since she had results that even surprised her, such as the swimming gala in Doha. “The most successful gala I’ve ever attended was in Doha in 2014. I participated at the FINA (Fédération Internationale De Natation) Swimming World Championships (25m) and I swam better than I ever thought I could.
“Preparing for a big event comes with many challenges. You’re trying to push your physical limits, which takes its toll. Personally, I’ve always struggled with staying calm. It’s important that I don’t expect too much from myself and that I don’t forget to enjoy the whole process,” Toni shared with The Zone.
Thankfully Toni has never had any serious injuries except for coming down with a flu on a regular basis, which happens to everyone. Even this seems to be quite frustrating, because it taught her that there are things in life that you cannot control, and you need to make peace with it no matter what.
“It’s a fine line where you focus on doing everything you can and then when it still doesn’t work, you have to know when to let it go.”
Throughout her swimming career Toni had to change coaches quite often, this required her to change her swimming technique frequently, which proved to be a bit of a challenge, and a lot of work. “However, it turned out to be a real privilege later though, because I’ve been training with great teammates and I could learn from them as well,” she said.
“Swimming has so many facets to it and they all make up the sport I’ve grown to love. I have an incredible team and teammates and coaches that I love spending time with. I’ve had wonderful tours. I enjoy the feeling of having done a session that I thought I couldn’t do. I love being a swimmer and (almost) everything that comes with it,” she explained.
Time management and self-discipline is key, she shared during her conversation with The Zone.
“You have to make peace with the fact that, while you can make sure something works out by working as hard as you can, you’ll never know when it will pay off,” she said.
These are the most valuable lessons swimming has taught Toni over the years, which she applies to her everyday life, such as school. She attended St Paul’s college, and matriculated last year. Next year Toni will be studying Actuarial Science at the University of Cape Town.
“Since I’m going to university next year I want to learn skills that will help me transition from the pool into the financial field. I’ll be pursuing my interests in mathematics and economics in my degree and I hope that I can learn enough to develop these fields in Namibia.”
It might seem to be a surprise, but Toni’s life does not completely revolve around swimming. She enjoys reading, especially books by F. Scott Fitzgerald such as the Great Gatsby. Knitting, drawing and graphic arts are also in her interests, yet her busy swimming schedule has left little time for her to pursue those interests.
She feels passionate about social issues as well, saying “I’m very aware that equality is still just a vision. In Namibia, especially women still don’t have the same opportunities as men and face a lot more adversity than most people think.”
Trying to keep a healthy life balance between her social life and her sport has also proven to be a challenge, yet she manages it quite well by rather going for a coffee on a Sunday morning, as opposed to going out the night before.
She tries to go to bed early, so that she is fit and well rested for training the following day. Her friends have supported her all the way through this journey, which has made it easier. “Personally I’ve been blessed with the most supportive friends and family imaginable. My parents in particular have worked relentlessly to help me achieve my goals. I think people vastly underestimate how many people work together so one person can become a better athlete,” Toni mentioned.
“I hope that in ten years from now I can say that I did everything I could to achieve my potential as an athlete. Even if I am not swimming anymore I will be carrying the values the sport taught me wherever I am in life. The self-discipline, time management skills, and friends I’ve gained through this sport will last longer than ten years,” she said in closing.

Valeska Brodie