Why the sky is the limit for swimmer Collins Saliboko

Dar es Salaam. Tanzania’s swimming sensation Collins Saliboko won plaudits at a recently ended African Zone Three championships held at the Dar es Salaam Gymkhana swimming pool.

The swimmer specialises in butterfly stroke whereby internationally, he normally competes in the 50m, 100m, 200m distance and 50m, 100m, 200m in freestyle.

In the national meet, Saliboko normally competes in 50m, 100m, and 200m butterfly as well as in 50m, 100m, 200m freestyle and 50m, 100m, 200m in backstroke

Saliboko who featured in the over 17 swimming category, scored high in the championships featuring another 262 swimmers from 10 countries in Africa.

The Tanzanian swimmer won many hearts, including the African Zone Three officials due to his impressive skills during the three-day event hosted in the country by the Tanzania Swimming Association (TSA). This was the third time it was held here.

The event saw Saliboko scoring 54 points to beat other swimmers who featured in the event. Apart from scoring high, Saliboko also managed to win 13 gold medals and two silvers for finishing at the top in his age category as well as overall as per records.

As per results issued by African Zone Three swimming governing body, Saliboko won gold medals in 200, 400 and 800 meters freestyle before taking home more gold medals in 50, 100 and 200 meters in butterfly and later in 50, 100 and 200 meters in backstroke styles.

The swimmer also won gold medals in 200 meters in individual medley (IM), 200 meters mixed medley relay and 200 meters in freestyle relay.

He also grabbed silver medals in 50m and 100m freestyle as well as in the 200m medal relay. Due to his best performance, Saliboko also won trophy.

The start of the journey

It all started when Saliboko was only 9-years-old, he and his brother started practicing swimming for fun. However, Saliboko was more interested in competing than just doing training.

When he was 11-years-old, Saliboko was enrolled at the Morogoro International School (MIS) where he trained extensively and competed in various competitions.

His participation in the swimming event changed his mind set and he decided to take the game more seriously and quickly became an avid swimmer.

After swimming for several times, his coaches saw something very special about him and pushed him beyond limits after winning various medals and awards and become the icon of the game.

After shining in various competitions, Saliboko was regarded as the new star swimmer in the country and then secured scholarship in the UK’s Saint Felix School and competed in many competitions.

Achievements

In 2015, Saliboko competed in the Suffolk county championships in England and won 4 gold medals, 2 silver medals, 2 bronze medals and qualified into England’s Amateur Swimming Association (ASA) national summer championship as the best.

He also continued to shine internationally after winning a silver medal in the ASA’s 2016 event and later competed in the Dubai International Aquatics championships and managed to swim in the finals six times.

In 2016, Saliboko decided to return home and competed in the national swimming championships where he managed to win 8 gold medals and 1 silver medal at the national swimming competition. The swimmer also managed to shine in another Suffolk county event in 2017 after winning two silver medals and two bronze and later won gold medals, 2 silver medals at the Cambridge Swimming Competition held in the same year.

Other competitions that Saliboko managed to compete representing the country are African Zone four event in 2015 held in Angola, Cana zone three in Uganda, 18th FINA world swimming championships held in Gwanju in South Korea and 14th FINA World swimming championships (25m) in Hangzhou, China in 2018 and in the Commonwealth Youths Games in Nassau, Bahamas in July 2017.

Dreams

Saliboko is determined to qualify for the Olympic Games and any other international events and bring back gold medals for his home country Tanzania.

Personal thoughts

Saliboko said that: “The journey has only just begun and there is still more to come.”

“I will not rest on my laurels. I will always listen to my coaches’ advice, as well as advice offered by experienced swimmers so that I can fulfil my ambition,” Saliboko continued.

The gifted swimmer, who swims for Dar es Salaam Swimming Club (DSC), said despite the challenges that continue to face the sport, he still sees a bright future due to the number of swimmers who are now forming the national team.

“I am still struggling to reach a place that will make me happy and enjoy the game despite the fact that the country has no Olympic size modern swimming pool. I decided to take the challenges as the bridges to my success in the sport and somehow see a bright future.

Current, Saliboko is the only swimmer who is under the International swimming Federation (FINA) sponsorship.

“Who knew before that one day I will be one of the great swimmers in the country who gets support from local firm such as Twiga Cement who have managed to help me in training as well as the competitions,” he said.

He said before being sponsored by FINA, he was under International Olympic Committee (IOC) for two years in 2019 and later competed in the African swimming championships held in Tunis, Tunisia.