Paralympian dreams big
Para-swimmer overcomes with indomitable spirt
From using his bare hands to make his way to kindergarten as a young child, to studying and managing a small tuck shop while pursuing his athletic dreams, Namibian para-swimmer Mateus Angula shares his remarkable story.
Limba Mupetami
Windhoek
Namibian Paralympic swimmer Mateus Angula believes that disability does not equate inability.
He shared this belief recently while recounting his story about becoming a para-swimmer and the challenges he has faced and still experiences.
Angula, nicknamed ‘Spiderman’, was born without legs and learned to use his arms and torso to move around at an early age. He was raised by an uncle in a small village called Elambo in Omusati Region.
Asked about his nickname, he said his teammates played a part in it.
“While travelling to South Africa in a bus, I was jumping from one chair to another using the rails of the luggage rack, and my teammates duped me ‘Spiderman’ and since then the name stuck.”
However, before he became known as ‘Spiderman’, he endured tough moments as a child living with a physical disability.
Tough from the start
His family was unable to afford a wheelchair, and Angula used his arms to carry his body as he moved around.
He said since kindergarten, he has moved, often over long distances, on his bare hands.
“The kindergarten was about 1.5 km from our house, and the backs of my hands would burn and get blisters because of the sun.”
“The pain didn’t stop me. I continued to help around the house like any other child, tending to the cattle and goats. All of this I did while moving around using my hands.”
At the age of eight, he finally received his first wheelchair, which made moving around a little easier. He finished high school at Canisianum Roman Catholic High School and thereafter moved to Windhoek.
A discovery
The swimmer said he was an active teenager and picked up the javelin and wheelchair basketball, which allowed him a spot on the para-team.
But while on a trip to SA in 2016, an official suggested that he try utilising his upper body strength in the swimming pool, and that’s how he fell in love with swimming.
“It was my first time getting in the pool. It was a bit challenging because I didn’t know how to start, but I started getting into it slowly, but surely.” His family, he said, wasn’t very supportive of his decision to swim.
“I informed them that I wanted to swim. But they were not happy. The Namibia Paralympic Committee really supported me.”
Better and better
Angula has represented Namibia at various regional and international para-swimming events. Recently, he competed in the South African Sports Association for Physically Disabled, where he bagged a gold medal in the 50-metre backstroke, a silver medal in the 100-m freestyle, and again a bronze medal in the 50-metre breaststroke.
However, he believes he can compete in more competitions, which will eventually lead him to qualify for the Olympic Games, something he has been toiling at, but the support is shortcoming.
“My coach, Sonia Lindemeier, has been influential in my swimming career. But we really need support if I’m to one day compete at the 2024 Olympic Games.”
Overcoming hurdles
“Life is really hard. I saved the little money I got and started a small tuck shop in Greenwell to make a living and to save for pocket money if I happen to make it to the Olympics,” he added.
The swimmer not only swims and owns a tuck shop but is a module away from graduating from the Vocational Training Centre (VTC).
“I have always loved fixing things and studied electrical engineering at the VTC. I have more to give and achieve,” he said.
“I still have a module left at VTC and want to complete it once I get money. If there are people out there who want to hire me for work, I would really appreciate that so that I can continue swimming, as I also have a competition coming up next month in France and I don’t have funds.”
Another goal on his list, is to run a swimming academy in order to teach aspiring swimmers. “That’s my dream, but I can’t achieve them if no one assists me,” concluded the swimmer.
[email protected]
Windhoek
Namibian Paralympic swimmer Mateus Angula believes that disability does not equate inability.
He shared this belief recently while recounting his story about becoming a para-swimmer and the challenges he has faced and still experiences.
Angula, nicknamed ‘Spiderman’, was born without legs and learned to use his arms and torso to move around at an early age. He was raised by an uncle in a small village called Elambo in Omusati Region.
Asked about his nickname, he said his teammates played a part in it.
“While travelling to South Africa in a bus, I was jumping from one chair to another using the rails of the luggage rack, and my teammates duped me ‘Spiderman’ and since then the name stuck.”
However, before he became known as ‘Spiderman’, he endured tough moments as a child living with a physical disability.
Tough from the start
His family was unable to afford a wheelchair, and Angula used his arms to carry his body as he moved around.
He said since kindergarten, he has moved, often over long distances, on his bare hands.
“The kindergarten was about 1.5 km from our house, and the backs of my hands would burn and get blisters because of the sun.”
“The pain didn’t stop me. I continued to help around the house like any other child, tending to the cattle and goats. All of this I did while moving around using my hands.”
At the age of eight, he finally received his first wheelchair, which made moving around a little easier. He finished high school at Canisianum Roman Catholic High School and thereafter moved to Windhoek.
A discovery
The swimmer said he was an active teenager and picked up the javelin and wheelchair basketball, which allowed him a spot on the para-team.
But while on a trip to SA in 2016, an official suggested that he try utilising his upper body strength in the swimming pool, and that’s how he fell in love with swimming.
“It was my first time getting in the pool. It was a bit challenging because I didn’t know how to start, but I started getting into it slowly, but surely.” His family, he said, wasn’t very supportive of his decision to swim.
“I informed them that I wanted to swim. But they were not happy. The Namibia Paralympic Committee really supported me.”
Better and better
Angula has represented Namibia at various regional and international para-swimming events. Recently, he competed in the South African Sports Association for Physically Disabled, where he bagged a gold medal in the 50-metre backstroke, a silver medal in the 100-m freestyle, and again a bronze medal in the 50-metre breaststroke.
However, he believes he can compete in more competitions, which will eventually lead him to qualify for the Olympic Games, something he has been toiling at, but the support is shortcoming.
“My coach, Sonia Lindemeier, has been influential in my swimming career. But we really need support if I’m to one day compete at the 2024 Olympic Games.”
Overcoming hurdles
“Life is really hard. I saved the little money I got and started a small tuck shop in Greenwell to make a living and to save for pocket money if I happen to make it to the Olympics,” he added.
The swimmer not only swims and owns a tuck shop but is a module away from graduating from the Vocational Training Centre (VTC).
“I have always loved fixing things and studied electrical engineering at the VTC. I have more to give and achieve,” he said.
“I still have a module left at VTC and want to complete it once I get money. If there are people out there who want to hire me for work, I would really appreciate that so that I can continue swimming, as I also have a competition coming up next month in France and I don’t have funds.”
Another goal on his list, is to run a swimming academy in order to teach aspiring swimmers. “That’s my dream, but I can’t achieve them if no one assists me,” concluded the swimmer.
[email protected]
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