Madagascar: SWIMMING – HOLY ANTSA RABEJAONA

Expatriate from Kazan in Russia, 21-year-old Holy Antsa Rabejaona shone at the Madagascar short-course championship from March 28 to 30 at the Esca Antanimena swimming pool.

Twice the recipient of a scholarship abroad, what is your main goal?

In the short term, it is to improve my performance as much as possible. This is to achieve the minimum qualification for the Olympics instead of always relying on the wild-card. In the long term, I aspire to always contribute to the development and honor of Malagasy swimming. I also manage my family life. Staying in touch with family even though I am far from my loved ones, sharing the latest news. Fortunately, Russia is in the same time zone as Madagascar, which makes things easier. I am not yet in a relationship and prefer to dedicate my time to my sports career and studies.

Can you summarize your achievements in swimming and basketball?

I participated in a swimming competition at the age of 5, first at the Cosfa club, then at Esca, Saint-Michel more recently, and at Managing. I hold national records in 50m butterfly and freestyle in a 50m pool, and in 50m butterfly, backstroke, and freestyle in a short-course pool. Recently, I updated the national records in 50m butterfly and 50m freestyle at the Indian Ocean Island Games. And during the Madagascar championship, I broke records in 50m butterfly, freestyle, and backstroke at the last national summit in a 25m pool.

In international competitions, I won medals at the African Zone 4 championship in Malawi in 2018 and in Botswana in 2020. I have also competed in the World Championship in Abu Dhabi in 2021, the junior world championships in Budapest in 2019, and in the open in 2022. In basketball, I started at the age of 9 at the Fandrefiala club. I was the U14 Madagascar champion and voted best player, then champion in N1B in 2020 and 2023. As for my studies, after completing my high school, I will continue my studies in physical education but only after mastering the language.

Can you summarize your journey until receiving the scholarship to Kazan?

When I was young, I accompanied my older sister to swimming. Over the years, I became more motivated by seeing the great swimmers of the time. Swimming became a passion for me. I invested more and dedicated more time to it. Regarding the scholarship, the first one awarded by the international federation required being ranked first in the national standings. As for the current scholarship, it was thanks to my connections with the people at the Kazan center who offered to collaborate with me if I wished.

How do you find the training at the center compared to training in Madagascar?

The fundamentals are all the same. What differentiates them, I think, is how the techniques are worked on. In Kazan, we spend a lot of time on strength training because the gym is located within the same complex. In the morning, we start training around 9 am after breakfast. We then work out in the gym from 11:15 am to 12:15 pm, then have lunch. In the afternoon, we have classes for studies starting at 1:30 pm. We return to training around 6 pm and only return home at 9:30 pm. The pace was tough, but I quickly adapted over time. I had the same rhythm for my studies. For now, I still need to improve my language skills.

Serge Rasanda