Naomi Ruele (born 13 January 1997) is a Botswana

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

. She competed in the women's 50 metre freestyle event at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

where she ranked at #47 with a time of 26.23 seconds. She also swims for

Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in Miami-Dade County. Founded in 1965, the school opened its doors to students in 1972. FIU has grown to become the third-largest uni ...

, and has been named the

Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are l ...

swimmer of the year with wins in the 50 free in a time of 22.11, 100 free in a time of 48.45 and 100 back in a time of 52.42.

Early life

Naomi Ruele was born on 13 January 1997 in

Gaborone Gaborone ( , , ) is the capital and largest city of Botswana with a population of 246,325 based on the 2022 census, about 10% of the total population of Botswana. Its agglomeration is home to 421,907 inhabitants at the 2011 census. Gaboron ...

, Botswana. She attended the

Maru a Pula School Maru-a-Pula School is a co-educational, independent day and boarding secondary school in Gaborone, Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in So ...

Swimming career

She was the first Motswana swimmer to qualify for the

Youth Olympic Games The Youth Olympic Games (YOG) is an international multi-sport event for athletes between 15 and 18 years old, organized by the International Olympic Committee. The games are held every four years in staggered summer and winter events consisten ...

, competing at

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

, China, in 2014 in the girls' 50 metre backstroke and 100 metre backstroke. She finished third in the 100 metre with a new personal best time of 1:04:2. Based on her time, she did not qualify for the semi-finals. She swam in the second heat of the 50 metre competition, finishing with a time of 29.86 seconds, one place outside of qualifying for the semi-finals as her time was 0.02 seconds slower than the swimmer in the 16th position. Ruele won a bronze medal competing in the 50 metre backstroke at the 2014 South African swimming championships, also placing fifth in the 100 metre backstroke. She set personal bests of 27.42 seconds and 1:01:81 in the 50 metre and 100 metre freestyle respectively. While attending

, she was named the 2015/16

swimmer of the year after finishing in first place in the 50 metre freestyle 12 times. At the Conference USA championships, she recorded a time of 22.33 seconds in the preliminary round and set a record of 22.23 seconds in the final. She swam in a further six events at the championships, three individually and four as part of a relay team. She won each time, for a total of seven gold medals, setting a further two records for her University in the 100 metre freestyle and the 200 metre freestyle relay. Ruele swam for

from the years of 2015-2019. In her 4 years competing for the University she qualified for the NCAA Division 1 Women's Swimming and Diving Championships consecutively. She has been named

Swimmer of the Year 3 out of 4 times in her swimming career at Florida International University, having collected medals and records in the 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle and 100 backstroke individually, as well as helping her squad to podium places in the 400 Free Relay, 400 Medley Relay, 200 Medley Relay and 200 Free Relay. She holds the Florida International University records in the 50 freestyle and 100 backstroke respectively. She was named by Botswana Youth publication as one of Botswana's Top 30 Under 30 Inspirational Youth.

Olympics

Ruele qualified for the

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

at the swimming meet at the

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

on 20 March 2016; she recorded a time of 26.07 seconds. This performance placed her inside the "B" qualifying time of 26.17, and she received a letter on 8 July stating that she had been chosen to represent

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...

. It marked the first occasion that Botswana had chosen more than one female athlete in a single Olympics team. Around the same time as her selection, Ruele was named as the Junior Female Sportsperson of the Year by the Botswana National Sports Council. Competing at the

Olympic Aquatics Stadium The Olympic Aquatics Stadium ( pt, Estádio Aquático Olímpico) was a temporary aquatics center in the Barra Olympic Park in Rio de Janeiro. The venue hosted the Swimming at the 2016 Summer Olympics, swimming events, Synchronized swimming at t ...

in Rio on 12 August in the women's 50 metre freestyle, she finished in second place in her heat with a time of 26.23 seconds. This meant that she finished 47th overall, and so failed to qualify for the following round.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruele, Naomi 1997 births Living people Botswana female swimmers Olympic swimmers for Botswana Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Olympics People from Gaborone Swimmers at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics African Games medalists in swimming African Games silver medalists for Botswana African Games bronze medalists for Botswana Swimmers at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games competitors for Botswana Swimmers at the 2015 African Games Swimmers at the 2019 African Games Female backstroke swimmers Botswana female freestyle swimmers FIU Panthers women's swimmers Expatriate swimmers in the United States