The Sunday Mail
Tinashe Kusema
Deputy Sports Editor
TODAY Kathy Lobb stands a proud teacher, having watched, albeit from afar, her prized student Donata Katai assert herself well at the biggest stage of them all.
The 17-year-old Gateway High pupil returned home from the Olympics, having swam her heart out in Tokyo to achieve a personal best time of 1 minute 0.23 seconds in the 100m backstroke.
The fact that it was enough to see her progress to the semi-finals is inconsequential as Lobb is very much pleased with her performance, and even pledged to treat the young swimming prodigy to some ice-cream.
“I am extremely proud of her,” said Lobb, who missed out on the trip and was replaced by national coach Lindsay Tudor.
“After the difficulties of the last 18 months, I was delighted with how she swam her race and her overall performance.
‘’She did everything we have been working on over the last year, and the results speak for themselves.
“There is so much more to come from her,” she said.
The love and admiration between the two is mutual, with the swimmer herself singling out her Sharks club coach for special praise upon her return home.
“Many thanks to Lobb (Kathy) who drilled me ahead of the Olympics.
“We couldn’t have proper preparations for the Games due to Covid-19 complications, but I salute her,” Katai said.
With the games now done and dusted, for Katai at least, the young swimmer has many wondering upon her next move now.
Katai is no hurry to make any definitive decisions, opting to live in the moment and get back to her studies.
“I’m just trying to finish school at this point, and take swimming one year at a time.
“God’s will, will be done” she said.
Unfortunately, that hasn’t stopped observers from making their conclusions and permutations.
Already, many have started making comparisons between the 17-year-old and the esteemed Minister of Youth, Sport, Art and Recreation, Kirsty Coventry.
Both are backstroke specialists, and had almost identical Olympic debuts in which they missed out on the semi-finals.
Coventry then acquired a scholarship that took her to the United States to hone her craft, and then came back with a bang at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics in Athens and Beijing respectively.
Now with seven medals to her name, she is arguably Africa’s greatest Olympian with two gold, four silver and a bronze medal to boot.
Katai, on the other hand, has broken one of Coventry’s national records, leaving many to believe that she could very well follow the same trajectory.
The comparisons themselves have not gone unnoticed by both Lobb and the swimmer.
“I think it’s an honour to be compared to Kirsty, she is my role model.
“There is always going to be comparisons between Donata and Kirsty – same stroke, Donata breaking Kirsty’s age group records and so on.
“I truly believe Donata (Katai) can do as well as the Minister given the right assistance like coaching back up and encouragement.
“Sadly it boils back to money, she needs help, particularly financial, to enable her to get to top competitions and build up her experience,” said Lobb.
While the Sharks coach did not necessarily coach Coventry, she did travel with her on some of Kirsty’s international assignments.
For now, the spotlight belongs to the young swimmer who has since described her adventure in Tokyo as an eye-opening and amazing experience.
“The Olympics were an amazing experience that I cherished for every day that I was there. “It was an honour to carry the national flag alongside Peter Purcell-Giplin, and to represent my family on such a high stage.
“Being around the best athletes in the world was very inspiring, but a little overwhelming as well.
“I am very happy with my performance, and can’t wait to see what the future holds,” Katai said.
