Kat Swanepoel

Started: She took up swimming in 2019. (eNCA YouTube channel, 30 Apr 2021) Reason: Having quit wheelchair rugby and wheelchair basketball due to injury, she then decided to take up swimming. "My housemate [speaking in 2021] is a sports physiotherapist who had travelled with the South African Para swimming team to the world championships. She phoned me from there and said, 'I have seen you swim in the gym, and I have seen these athletes swim. You have to swim'. I told her I was done with sport, and started swimming just to shut her up. But I grew to love it." (eNCA YouTube channel, 30 Apr 2021) Ambition: To compete at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (ewn.co.za, 08 Dec 2022) Awards: She and athletics competitor Mpumelelo Mhlongo were named as flag bearers for South Africa for the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (teamsa.co.za, 11 Jul 2024) In 2021 she was named on South African newspaper the Mail & Guardian's 200 Young South Africans list. The list recognises talented South Africans in a variety of categories. (200youngsouthafricans.co.za, 24 Jun 2021) Additional Info: FROM WHEELCHAIR SPORTS TO SWIMMING She gave up wheelchair rugby and then wheelchair basketball due to health reasons before she took up Para swimming. "I stopped playing rugby before I stopped playing basketball because I was just taking too many knocks, too many hits. The physicality took a bit of a toll and I was told that with my condition and neck it wouldn't be safe to continue with. So, in 2014, I stopped rugby and focused on basketball. I kept going with the national team until the 2016 Rio Paralympic qualifiers, and the qualifiers were in Algeria. There I ended up having quite a few seizures after the last match and spent three days in ICU [intensive care unit]. I think I just decided for health reasons it was time to call it quits on things. After that I did a bit of road racing just to keep fit, did a marathon and decided marathons are not for me." (gsport.co.za, 31 Jan 2024; kemptonexpress.co.za, 08 Dec 2021; dailymaverick.co.za, 30 Aug 2021; newframe.com, 18 Aug 2021)