Hello! My name is Tanya, and I'm raising funds for my soon to be 16 year old son Connor Grist

Connors journey began in Kasane, Northern Botswana where we lived from when he was five until thirteen. He was home schooled in this incredible part of Africa, surrounded by wildlife and raised in the heart of a close-knit community.

In September 2021, during the turbulence of the pandemic, we sent Connor to Victoria Falls Primary School in Zimbabwe . It was here, under the guiding hand and encouragement of Ali Steiner, a dedicated swimming coach at this tiny farm school, that Connor discovered his passion and potential for swimming.

In 2023 he began his high school journey at Peterhouse Boys in Marondera, Zimbabwe. His new coach, Masi Takaedza has encouraged and coached him to reach for new dreams in his swimming career, first in the pool and then in the fresh water lakes of Zimbabwe. With unwavering dedication, Connor has embraced long distance swimming, both in the pool and in the open water.

On the first of February 2025 Connor swam his first 5km in Mazowe Dam in the Zimbabwe Open Water National, Open Water Championships, finishing with a time of 1.14.50 which made him eligible to swim in The World Aquatic Open Water Championships to be held in Singapore in July 2025.

At the end of February 2025, Connor competed at the Zimbabwe Senior National Championships in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Here he achieved first place in 400M freestyle, 800M freestyle and 1500M freestyle. Second place in 200M freestyle, 200M backstroke and 200M breast stroke and lastly, third place in 100M butterfly.

A week later, on the 8th of March 2025, Connor swam another 5km at the Bonaqua Africa Triathlon and Multisport festival at Troutbeck dam in Nyanga, Zimbabwe improving his time to a personal best of 1.10.16.

His goal is to shave off a further 10+ minutes in the next two months with dedicated training in both the school pool and Mazowe dam during our April holidays and during the school term.

He has made the qualifying time and is on the short list to represent Zimbabwe in Namibia for the Region 5 Youth Games, from the 4th - 13th of July 2025. If selected, he will be swimming the 200m Freestyle, 400m Individual Medley races. (To be confirmed) The costs for this are fully covered by the Zimbabwean Government.

Connor has officially been selected to compete in Singapore alongside three other Zimbabwean swimmers. He will compete in the 5km open water event at the World Aquatic Championships on the 18th of July 2025

We are now raising funds to make this dream a reality, this is Connors first international trip for swimming and with your help, we can ensure that Connor has the opportunity to compete on this world stage.

These are the estimated costs for each swimmer in US Dollars.

Race uniform: $600

National Kit: $300

Flights: $2000

Accomodation for 7 days: $2300

Insurance/Incidentals: $150

Total: $5350

Our family together with the team is actively seeking sponsorship from local businesses to help this and future opportunities.

Every contribution - big or small- bring us closer to our goal. Your support would mean the world to Connor, and to us as a family. We are deeply grateful for any financial help, words of encouragement or simply sharing this with someone who might be able to assist.

Thank you for helping this remarkable “bush baby” take his first strokes onto the international stage.

Please donate or share this link to support Connor’s journey.