ON THE COVER: Pamela Girimbabazi

Today, we bring you Olympian Pamela Girimbabazi. The 24 year old has been to three Olympics already. She represented Rwanda in Sydney (2000), Athens Games (2004), and the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. She has also participated in international swimming competitions in Barcelona, Canada, Shanghai and Austria. The swimming star says she has never had formal swimming lessons, or a regular coach. But she trains herself in hotel swimming pools, as she is required to know as many swimming techniques as possible. No doubt, Girimbabazi is an icon of pure sporting spirit, and an athlete who competes for the love of the game, not for the thrill of victory or the fame and riches that might follow. She started a club for children in Kigali so that the future Rwandan Olympians do not have to learn to swim the hard way she did. The 24-year-old recently added another victory to her life. She completed her bachelor’s degree in law, at Kigali Independent University, commonly known as ULK. Girimbabazi calls upon parents with children interested in swimming to register them at Laico Hotel, formerly Hotel Novotel, in Kacyiru. Go girl. Ends