Swimmer Monica Botha | Our swim family story

Swimmer: Monica Botha

Swimmer: Monica Botha swims for North Coast Dolphins Swim Team (NCDST); from Amanzimtoti, Durban, KwaZulu Natal South Africa

Swimmer’s biography:

Monica loves training at our local beach

Name: Monica Botha
Date of Birth: 06-03-2007
Swimming club: North Coast Dolphins Swim Team
Hometown: Amanzimtoti, Durban, KwaZulu Natal
School: Homeschooled – National Home Education Academy (NHEA). Department of Education KZN registered.
Coach: Jan Botha American coaches swimming Association Level 3 Qualified Coach

Swimmer’s FAQs:

Nickname: Mica – she called herself Mica when she was small and the name stuck
Favorite stroke: IM although I seem to be doing well at the moment in freestyle. Difficult choice.
Favorite drink: Only water and or milk
Energy: Honey preferably raw honey, peanut butter – nothing else
Biggest wish: To outgrow asthma and to live a healthy life
Causes: Gold in September, Swim to Inspire and Share-A-Lane with Michelle Weber
Favorite animals: Horses and dogs especially Alsations and Daschunds
What would you like to be one day?
I would love to be a swimmer and study Zoology, however, Veterinary science seems interesting

Monica busy with home-schooling before swim practice.

Schooling:

Monica homeschools and is currently busy with Grade 6 (2018). Our homeschool is registered with the Department of Education in KZN and we use the Accelerated Christian Education system. National Home Education Academy is our host school (NHEA keeps all academic records).

Monica qualified to compete at the school’s championships as we are registered with the KZN Department of Education. KZN Regional schools championships take places in February every year. Monica represents the Umlazi district. We are currently awaiting the outcome of the KZN Regional schools team selection. Mica won all her races at the 2018 Kwazulu Natal Schools Regional Championships.

We homeschool Monica as an Occupational Therapist recommended this form of schooling due to Mica being school ready at the age of 4. She started with Grade R on the PACES system, loved it and we just continue to homeschool her as the curriculum works so well and she could work at her own pace.

Monica takes music lessons and loves playing the piano.

Activities:

Monica loves music and plays the piano. She started in 2011 with Kindermusik and switched to piano lessons in 2013. Monica also likes playing XBox games with her friends and has a particular love for board games such as Monopoly and Scrabble. Swimming is Monica’s only sport of choice at this stage. She is free to make other choices but she wants to commit her time and effort to swim.

Mica is developing a love for the sport as part of a lifestyle choice, not just being competitive. She does land training and looks forward to an older age where she may use gym equipment to build strength.

In 2017 we embarked on a land training program to supplement her swimming. All the exercises focus on using her own body weight to build strength over a long period of time. She does her land training at home or on our local beach. Land training takes place on selected days only and depends on her pool program. She looks forward to an older age where she can do some gym training.

Friendships:

Being silly with my best friend

Monica’s friendships are all long-lasting and hail from pre-primary school to neighborhood and swimming friends. Regular play dates are scheduled during the week after school and weekends when she does not have swimming commitments. We also attend her friends’ concerts, sport meets ranging from hockey to netball and swimming.

Non-swimming weekends consist of fun activities with friends and let’s not forget the holidays with Granny on the West Coast of South Africa. Family and friends form a very important part of Mica’s support structure as part of growing up.

About North Coast Dolphins Swim Team (NCDST):

North Coast Dolphins Swim Team

NCDST runs under the auspices of Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation. Head Coach Dominique Donner is the project manager and the swim club is responsible for water safety education and Learn-to-swim in KwaZulu Natal. The swim club is based in Ballito on the KZN North Coast. Monica joined NCDST in May 2017.

Mica’s swimming program takes approximately an hour and a half, Monday to Friday with Saturdays and Sundays as rest days. (Unless there is swim meets to attend or she trains with her club on a Saturday.) Our town is approximately an hour from the club. Rest and recovery are as important as training and racing.

Monica holds the following 2017 swimming titles:

2018 SSA L3 Regional Championship UWC Western Cape – top point scorer 11 & Under and she placed 3rd 18-and-under
2017 TYR Westville sprints top 10-year-old female swimmer
2017 Speedo KZN Aquatics KZN Junior champ and Girls 10-years old top female swimmer

Detailed times and history:

Monica Botha’s Swimming South Africa National 10&U Rankings December 2017

Monica celebrates her birthday just before the Annual Regional championships in March/April. Swimming South Africa normally update the database in December/January and then again after Regional championships, before the new season starts on 1 May. As a result, we look at Mica’s rankings end December or beginning January as she moves on to the next age group in March.

Below the 2017-2018 rankings as on 28 December 2017.

Monica Botha swimmer's ranking in South Africa National database

Monica’s ranking in the 10&U age group during the 2017-2018 season