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This is the view of the Zimbabwe Olympic Committee who saluted the 26-year-old Zimbabwean swimming icon for her recent exploits in the pool in Port Elizabeth at the weekend.
ZOC said yesterday that they were naturally impressed by Coventry’s results at the South African Long Course International Invitational Meet.

Coventry emerged from the two-day meet in Port Elizabeth with five medals — four golds and a silver — as she once again proved that she still possesses the magic that saw her winning seven medals — two golds, four silvers and one bronze — at the last two Olympics in Athens, Greece, in 2004 and Beijing, China, in 2008. In Port Elizabeth, Coventry first won three medals — two golds and a silver — on day one of competition on Saturday night.

She won her first gold medal in the women’s 200m freestyle in 2:02.06 before she returned to pick up another medal of the same colour in the 200m individual medley with a strong 2:13.40.
Coventry then settled for second place in the 200m backstroke in 2:11.12.

There was more to come from Coventry on day two of the competition on Sunday where she mined two more gold medals in the 400IM (4:41.35) and 100m backstroke (1:01.00) to cap a good outing at the international invitational meet.
And ZOC yesterday received with jubilation the news of Coventry’s sterling performance in Port Elizabeth.

Stanley Mutoya, the ZOC general manager, said: “Considering that Kirsty is one of Zimbabwe’s strong medal hopefuls at the up-coming 2012 London Olympic Games, her performance became sweet news and a firm justification of her focus and determination to qualify and post yet another credible performance at the London Olympic Games in 2012.
“The results that Kirsty posted at this meet (in Port Elizabeth) clearly show her steady but impressive progress towards peak performance as we cautiously approach the Olympic Games in 2012.
“She has been impressive in her approach to training and it is no wonder that as we move closer to the peak qualifying period, she has made a bold statement of her intentions.”

The qualifying period for the 2012 London Olympic Games runs between March 2011 and May 2012.
“As the Zimbabwe Olympic Committee, we wish to congratulate Kirsty for her sterling performance at the just-ended competition in Port Elizabeth.
“We encourage her to remain focused and to guard against exerting undue pressure on herself to perform.
“We, however, do not doubt her ability to withstand distractions given her majestic wealth of experience in training and competing at international level,” Mutoya said.
The ZOC general manager also said that although some of Coventry’s times are still below her breathtaking 2008 performance at the Beijing Olympics, it is encouraging to note her strength at this stage of her training period.  –The Herald