From the archive – “Taking to the water”

Melba Njenga had never swam competitively until she came to the United States. Now, she is one of Dakota Ridge’s best swimmers

Melba Njenga is unassuming in nearly every way.

She is petite, standing at a mere 5-foot-1. She is reserved and quiet by nature. And she is humble. But when you see her swim you would never know that she is any of those things.

Njenga, a junior at Dakota Ridge High School, nicknamed “The Albatross” by her coaches for her amazingly long arms and smooth, graceful strokes, didn’t have such a smooth start to her high school swimming career.

When she was 12-years-old, Njenga moved to the United States from Kenya prompting her to make many adjustments to her new life. The food, culture and weather were tough but she endured.

As she entered her freshman year at Dakota Ridge she realized that she needed to make friends, so she decided the best way to do that would be to join the girls swimming team.

“I will never forget my first day (on swim team). I don’t know what I was thinking,” recalls Njenga with a wistful chuckle. “I remember looking at the other girls jumping in the water and watching how they moved and thinking, ‘Oh, this looks easy. They are just swinging their arms.’ So I jumped in and after one lap (head coach Pat) Burke was like, ‘Nope, out of the water’.”

“I was afraid that she was going to drown,” said Burke laughing. “I told her to get out of her lane. She was in lane two, which is in the deep end, and I put her in a lane in the shallow end so that I could walk alongside her to watch her constantly. I didn’t think she’d make it through practice.”

Njenga had never swam formally before — as in, she had never done a lap. She didn’t know how to time her breathing to her stroke or how to move her arms and legs properly. But she was not about to let something minor like not knowing how to technically swim stop her.

“She showed up on that first day in this odd short and shirt outfit and she couldn’t finish a lap without stopping,” recalls assistant coach Alex Chick with a smile. “Needless to say, (Burke) and I were worried. We would have never guessed that she would become as competitive of a swimmer as she is now.”

That was three years ago. She turned 16 last month and while she might not be ready for the Olympics she is making a splash on the high school level. Njenga earned a third-, fourth- and fifth-place finish in her events Jan. 8 against Pomona. She competes in the 200-yard freestyle, the 100-yard freestyle and the 200-yard freestyle relay and is a strategic part of the team.

Her small frame and quiet demeanor work to her advantage because, while she might not be built like multi-time Olympic medalist Michael Phelps, she moves quickly, smoothly and gracefully through the water with what seems like effortless motion leaving her competition flabbergasted.

“When I think about how far she has come since that first day,” Burke said, “I can’t help but be amazed. She watches how other swimmers swim and she listens to everything we say and she just does it. That’s it, she just does it.”

Joining the swim team without fully knowing how to swim is a pretty gutsy move. Njenga wouldn’t consider herself a risk-taker. Well, almost.

“Only when it comes to sports,” she said. “I am really reserved in my everyday life, like when I am in class I sit back and observe everything before I speak or act. But when it comes to sports I don’t have the same type of reservation. I just do it.”

Next year will be her last year swimming at the high school level, but she is hoping to continue on when she attends college.

“I know I will continue swimming after I leave high school,” Njenga said. “I want to study literature or maybe medicine. I’m not sure, but I do know that I will keep swimming.”