“...I kinda walked away from the sport knowing that I couldn’t give more.”
to achieving her dreams. Even when nervous and anxious, du Toit always enjoyed working hard and striving toward her goals. Her successful career was put on hold when one morning, on her way to school, du Toit was struck by a truck driver and sent flying across the pavement along with her scooter. She was seventeen years old and in her final year of college. The accident resulted in the amputation of one of her legs, and for a while, du Toit’s future in the water seemed bleak. Soon, du Toit—still in bandages—was back in school. Though she slept through a lot of her classes, she was determined to stay afloat amidst life’s turbulence and was back in action in no time. Just three months after her accident, “Noodle,” as she is fondly called by some, was back in the water. However, du Toit’s comeback after her incident was not smooth sailing. She experienced some challenges getting back to what had become her life. “When I started swimming breaststroke, I actually swam very askew, and I swam into someone, and they cut their eye open and had to have stitches… these were big lessons, and I was very
I N COMPETITIVE SWIMMING, the pool. Competitive swimming has come to be recognized as a true test of resilience, perseverance, and endurance, a concept that perfectly describes the journey of Olympic gold medalist swimmer Natalie du Toit. Natalie du Toit, a South African Olympic swimmer, swam her way to stardom when she won the gold medal at the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games for the 100 m butterfly event. swimmers fight not only against the water but also against their fellow competitors as soon as they enter Before that, du Toit displayed her aptitude for the sport on an international stage at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, held in Manchester, England, which offered swimming as a multi-disability event. In an 800 m freestyle competition that pitted every disabled competitor against one another, du Toit won by the point system rules, nearing the world record.
Ironically, despite her passion for and proficiency in swimming, du Toit admits she was afraid of the water in her younger years. “I was actually petrified of swimming, and I was always the little sister that had to go and watch my brother play sports. He’s three years older than me, and I used to sit on the side of the swimming pool and watch him train… One day, I just decided that I wanted to swim, and my mum went up to the coach and asked the coach if she would mind putting me in the water and seeing if I [was] any good at it. So, I got into the water, and I guess I just kinda took to it.” Du Toit was immediately captivated by the sport and put her all into what quickly became her passion. She soon surpassed her brother, who probably wasn’t too thrilled at the time. Despite being extremely shy and timid— she would have her hand held at galas and even at competitions, right until the gun went off—du Toit was dedicated
268
Powered by FlippingBook