From the time that she was very young, the parents of Keri-Leigh Shaw, Jean and Mike from Makhado (Louis Trichardt), realised there was something very special about their daughter

She was like a fish in water when it came to swimming and today, this 17-year-old has her sights on the 2008 Olympics.

Keri-Leigh began swimming at the age of nine. She was first trained by Johan Jansen, after which another local swimming coach, Charl Venter, took over her training.

At the age of only 13, Keri-Leigh joined the High Performance Centre in Pretoria, were she trained under Sandor Ban for two and a half years. Eigor Omeltchenko then took over her coaching and for the last months she has been training under the well-known Dirk Lange.

Keri-Leigh’s flight to Melbourne, Australia, is already booked, where she will compete in the 12th FINA World Swimming Championships from March 25 until April 1. She will, however, already fly over there on March 8 to prepare. Some 1 000 athletes from 175 countries are expected to compete. Keri-Leigh will compete in the butterfly over distances of 50m, 100m and 200m, as well as the 4x100m medley butterfly. The FINA World Championship is on par with the 2008 Olympics.

In August last year, Keri-Leigh won two silver medals during the FINA World Youth Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She also boasts two gold medals in the 200m butterfly which she won during two World Cups in Durban and Brazil respectively. Keri-Leigh also boasts full Protea colours and is ranked first in South Africa in the 200m and 100m butterfly.

"Keri-Leigh has achieved so much. I honestly think the town should show their support towards her," remarked resident Carol Went from LTT Blot & Nut. Carol is in the process of helping to raise funds to assist Keri-Leigh with her Australian visit. She has organized a business challenge and was the first to challenge business to beat her offer of R1 000. Persons or businesses wishing to make an offer can phone Jean Shaw at Tel 082 899 8786 or 015 516 2340.