One of Namibia’s Tokyo Olympics representatives, swimmer Phillip Seidler, has announced his retirement from international participation, saying he will rather focus on local competitions in order to make room for other career opportunities.

The 23-year-old Seidler, who made his Olympic debut at last year’s games in Tokyo, Japan, made the unexpected announcement on his social media platforms over the weekend, where he said the decision to quit professional swimming was triggered by a lucrative job offer in a big
firm.

“There comes a day when you realise turning the page is the best feeling in the world, because you realise there’s much more to the book than the page you were stuck on. I am happy to write a new chapter in my life and setting new goals in a working environment to become independent and successful one day. I am very privileged that I got a great job offer, and starting at the beginning to be part of a big business. I love my work, and I had to leave my professional swimming career behind because the day is too short for all the mileage I used to swim,” wrote Seidler on social media. 

The young marathon swimmer, who won the 2,1km and 5km races at the recent Pointbreak Oanob Open Water competition, added that the new career move is aimed at creating a strong personal foundation for his family’s future, but maintained that he is not all lost to local swimming.

Seidler shared that he will remain involved in the overall development of Namibian swimming, specifically helping and guiding upcoming marathon swimmers. 

He said one of his major goals is to help popularise the discipline of long-distance swimming among local swimmers, and that is something he will continue to passionately advocate for while traversing his new career path.

The young Seidler’s glittering career saw him competing in the men’s 5km event at the 2017 World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, where he finished 42nd overall.

He also competed in the men’s 10km race at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships in Gwangju, South Korea, and managed to finish in a respectable 32nd place.

Seidler won the 10km bronze medal at the 2021 South African Open Water Swimming Olympic Trials, a result that made him eligible for the 2021 FINA Marathon Swim Qualifier, through which he qualified to compete in the men’s 10km race at last year’s Olympics in Japan.

-ohembapu@nepc.com.na