Fungai Muderere
She made a breathtaking start on her Olympic Games debut appearance when she won her 100m backstroke heat with a new personal best time of 1:02:73 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre on Sunday. However, it was a so-near-yet-so-far development for Zimbabwean swimmer Donata Katai as she came short of qualifying for the semi-final.
Katai (17), who is the first black swimmer to represent the country at the Games, was not able to beat the cut off time of 1.00.04. In her first heat, Katai beat Indian Maana Patel and Kimberly Ince of Grenada who came out second and third respectively.
Katai’s first heat results were not enough to push her through to the semi-finals as she was placed 34th in the overall heats.
Only the top 16 progressed to the semi-finals.
Katai is the reigning Zimbabwe Junior Sportswoman of the Year and is the current African Junior Championships gold medal holder in both the 50m and 100m backstroke. Zimbabwe has five representatives at the Olympics, with others being 100m sprinter Ngoni Makusha, golfer Scott Vincent and swimmer Peter Wetzlar.
