The Sunday Mail
ROBYN LEE broke five records and scooped seven medals for Team Zimbabwe at the African Swimming Confederations Championships but in her bigger scheme of things it’s nothing to write home about.
For the 18-year-old, the Cana competition was just another stroke towards her ultimate dream – the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Lee is now making a habit of breaking records at every meet and her Cana outing has the nation whispering about a swimmer who can take over from Kirsty Coventry.
“I wouldn’t say breaking records is the norm, I would just say I had some good races alongside some good competition,” Lee told The Sunday Mail in an interview last week.
Lee finished the 200m individual medley in record time of 2:28:63, won the women’s 17 and over 200m butterfly in 2:28:92, won the 100m butterfly in 1:04:43, beating last year’s record of 1:05:67.
She also won gold in the 100m backstroke in 1:06:07, bettering the record by three milli-seconds. She also scooped the 50m butterfly in 28.65 seconds.
Lee revealed that all she wanted to do going into the continental competition was to do Zimbabwe proud.
“To be honest, I came into Cana not knowing where I was seeded or who my competition was so I didn’t have a definite goal other than to do my country proud,” she said.
“I was happy with my performance, obviously there were some races that I wanted to go faster in . . . to get personal best time. However, I put those races behind me and looked forward to the races that were still to come.
“As a swimmer racing so many events at Cana, I couldn’t afford to sit and dwell on poorly executed races as it would have affected my other races.”
Lee, who also broke four Africa Junior Swimming Championships records in Egypt in 2015, has little time to back in the sun after her Cana blockbuster.
The Zimbabwean swimmer is expected to leave for her base this weekend to start preparations for the Australian Age Nationals.
The Brisbane competition presents Lee with a chance to qualify for the World Championships in Hungary in July.
But Tokyo remains the ultimate dream.
“Tokyo 2020 is definitely a massive goal in my swimming career. I feel that each time I race I am edging closer towards my dream. Whether it’s a good swim or a bad swim.
“My reason for this is because each time I race, I reflect on what I did well and what I can improve on to help me hopefully shave some time off my personal best to eventually qualify for Tokyo,” she said.
Away from the pool, Lee is set to start her nursing studies this year.
“I will be at Edith Cowan University in Perth. I am doing a bridging course until mid year and then I am hoping to get into nursing.
“The nursing course will be three years once I get in.
“We don’t get to experience it before we study it, but I am interested in it as I like helping people in need,” she said.
