Olympics water polo star shares her experiences
"I want to encourage young athletes to believe in themselves because when you truly believe in your skills and abilities and what you bring to the table, other people’s opinions will not matter and you will eventually reach your personal goals.”
Charterhouse Schools were privileged to have SA Women Water Polo player, Shakira January share her Tokyo Olympics experience with the Grade 2s on Thursday, August 26.
The open-air, mask-wearing and social-distancing surprise was a highlight for the learners as they couldn’t stop talking about Shakira as some of them had watched SA play during the Olympics.
The 18-year-old water polo sensation attended Randpark High School from Grades 8 to 10 and then moved to St Stithians Girls College in Grade 11 where she matriculated.
Shakira is currently taking a gap year and revealed to the Northsider that her reason was to focus on training for the Olympics.
Throughout the year she has been coaching at Stithians Girls College and Boys Preparatory, and she is looking at studying at the University of Pretoria (Tuks) next year, and hopefully join their water polo side.
“There have been instances where others’ opinions got in the way of me playing at my full potential.
“I want to encourage young athletes to believe in themselves because when you truly believe in your skills and abilities and what you bring to the table, other people’s opinions will not matter and you will eventually reach your personal goals,” said Shakira.
She admitted to being a typical younger cousin who wanted to be just like her older cousin, as she used to watch her older cousin play.
In high school Shakira instantly signed up for water polo although swimming was not her strong point; she preferred land sports like netball and athletics.
What kept her interested in water polo was her coach at the time, Claire Whyte, and her supportive teammates who are now among her best friends.
The team announcement for the Tokyo Olympics was made with less than a month to go until departure.
The final team had no preparation together before they left due to the spike in Covid-19 cases in the country at the time.
This SA Women Water Polo team had to go through some changes just days before they left and then again when they arrived.
Their first official international match as a team was their first pool game against the European champions.
The young experienced centre back just keeps bagging accolades every time she enters the pool, recapping her selections: 2018 U/16A Pan Pacs New Zealand; 2019 U/17 Junior Ladies EU Nations; 2019 Senior Ladies EU Nations Czech Republic; 2019 U/20 FINA Junior World Champs Portugal; 2020 U/18 Africa FINA World Champ qualifiers Zimbabwe; and 2021 Olympic Training Squad.
