Samantha Paxinos
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Botswana| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Samantha Paxinos |
| National team | Botswana |
| Born | 25 February 1988 Gaborone, Botswana |
| Height | 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in) |
| Weight | 60 kg (132 lb) |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Swimming |
| Strokes | Freestyle |
Samantha Paxinos (born 25 February 1988) is a Botswana swimmer, who specialized in sprint freestyle events.[1] She became one of the first-ever Botswana swimmers, alongside John Kamyuka, to compete at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and the first female to carry the nation's flag in the opening ceremony.[2] At the games she swam in heat three, but fell behind Olivia Aya Nakitanda of Uganda by more than half a second, failing to advance to the semifinals.
Paxinos was tutored in swimming under Darrell Morton from the age of 9, attending his School of Swimming. At the time, swimming in the country was undeveloped. In the late 1990s, Morton met with the Botswana National Sports Council to establish a swimming Federation in Botswana. The Botswana Swimming Sports Association was formed, and the Darrell Morton School of Swimming opened in 1999. The school has since grown to over 900 swimmers.[3] She is coached by Allison La Grange.
Paxinos competed in the 2007 All-Africa Games in Algeria, and competed in the Sub-Sahara championships in Malawi and the World Championships in Manchester in 2008.[4]
