The Olympian Phillip Seidler

Phillip Seidler (26) will represent Namibia for the second time at the 2024 Olympic Games in the 10 kilometres open water marathon swim event in Paris, France.

In February at the 2024 World Aquatics Championship in Doha, Qatar, the Swakopmund resident clocked 1 hour 54 minutes 04.20 seconds in the 10 km event to qualify for the upcoming Olympic Games.

This time he will dive in the water on 9 August at the Pont Alexandre III Bridge across the Seine River in the heart of the French capital.

The 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games in Japan was his first taste of the world’s most prestigious competition where his endurance, physical strength and brain power were all put to the test.

At the 2021 South African open water swimming Olympic trials, Seidler won the 10 km bronze medal. This result made him eligible for the 2021 FINA Marathon Swim Qualifier, through which he advanced to compete in the 10 km open water swim at the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo.

The Namibian, employing a strategy of saving his strength to accelerate during the last two laps, overtook a good number of challengers to finish in 1:53:14.1 and claim an excellent 16th place.

Florian Wellbrock from Germany scooped up the gold in 1:48:33.7, while Kristof Rasovszky of Hungary (1:48:59.0) secured silver and Gregorio Paltrinieri from Italy bagged bronze in 1:49:01.1.

Next month Wellbrock, Rasovszky and Paltrinieri will be back to defend their respective Olympic medals with a chasing pack of 30 swimmers on their backs in Paris.

The ten remaining swimmers from the Tokyo Games who are heading for France are the three medal winners, as well as Seidler, Matan Roditi (Israel, 4th in 1:49:24.9), Athanasios Kynigakis (Greece, 5th in 1:49:29.2), Marc-Antoine Olivier (France, 6th in 1:50:23.0), Taishin Minamide (Japan, 13th in 1:53:07.5), David Farinango (Ecuador, 15th in 1:53:09.8) and Hector Pardoe (Britain, did not finish).

They will be joined by 23 fresh new medal hopefuls at Pont Alexandre III.

Seidler had announced his retirement from competitive swimming just after the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. However, the bug bit again and the friendly and humble Swakopmund-born swimmer changed his mind.

He explained: “The water is my second home and that’s where I feel the most comfortable. Being in the ocean and in water gives me a calm and relaxed feeling.

“It feels like I was born to be a shark in the ocean, but I am trapped in a human's body. That is how I feel.

“I started swimming at the age of five, after breaking my left arm. The funny fact is that I was able to surf before I could swim, at the age of four.

“My parents thought okay, now would be a good time for me to start swimming, because the kid is going into bigger waves one day and if he cannot swim properly in the ocean that would be very dangerous.

“For my first Olympics, I trained every day for twelve years. I lived, dreamed and breathed the Games non-stop. It took so much hard work, dedication and perseverance.

“Swimming is a very lonely sport. My mum and my brother actually train me. So what happens in the pool stays in the pool. I don’t think many athletes can do what I and my mum do to keep family, and the professional relationship apart.

“I am embracing the moment now that I am going to my second Olympics. I am grateful to be talented and good enough to make it to Paris. I am so proud to represent my country at the Olympic Games again.

“My dream was never to stand on podiums, it always was about the story I can write and the legacy I will leave behind.”

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