Lack of proper sports training facilities has continued to see developing countries such as Zambia fail to meet the qualification standards for international competitions such as the Olympic Games, according to Times of Zambia.
Zambia thus has been sending a small contingent of athletes, and luckily because the Olympic Games organisers have come up with the wildcard system, under which countries which would otherwise have missed out, can also benefit, the local newspaper reported Wednesday.
Zambian swimmer Zane Jordan, based in Australia, has been benefited from this initiative and will be splashing for honours alongside many other top world swimmers.
In Beijing, Jordan is aiming to make a difference on his debut and become the first swimmer to win Zambia a medal at the Olympics.
Zambian swimming circles have been dominated by women as men continue to lag behind with silverware eluding them at most international events.
But in Jordan, Zambia can harbour hope for a first swimming medal at the Olympics as the teenage swimmer is setting his sight on improving his personal best and doing the country proud.
Jordan, however, is not optimistic about his chances of winning anything in Beijing apart from trying to improve his personal best.
"I'm really young, I'm going to try my best but I'm probably not at a level to win a medal. If I keep improving which I hope to and think I can, I've got my eyes on London in 2012," Jordan said.
The 17-year-old grew up in Zambia with his parents and four siblings before moving to England, his mother Maxine's home country as a seven-year-old.
The family moved to Australia two-and-a-half years ago and Jordan has little memory of his childhood in Zambia.
His parents drove him to a swimming pool 10 km from the home for training because it was not safe to ride a bike. He now trains with the Woden Swim Club.
Jordan's school friends attended a three-day retreat in Sydney this week but he remained in Canberra to continue his preparations for the Beijing Olympics.
"My goal is to swim a good PB, maybe a 23.9 would be nice, that would be satisfying. It was a pretty big shock for me to find out I had been selected to go to the Olympics so I just want to swim my fastest, whatever that is at the time, and maybe get some autographs of some of the bigger-name swimmers," Jordan said.
Jordan has been working hard of late and he knows he is up against it but that will not bother him at all. In a few days' time, he will be lining up against the likes of Eamon Sullivan in Beijing with a prize far more lucrative than a greenback.
Canberra swimmer Jordan will represent Zambia at the Olympics in the 50 metres freestyle.
The MacKillop Catholic College student, who is one of eight Zambian athletes in Beijing, is a realist.
He knows his personal best time of 25.1 seconds for 50 metres is light years away from Sullivan's world record of 21.28 seconds.
Four seconds may not seem much but in the 50 metres freestyle, it's the equivalent of about 10 meters, or one-fifth of an Olympic-size swimming pool.
That doesn't quite put him in the league of Eric "The Eel" Moussambani who took 1:52.72 to swim 100m at the Sydney Olympics, but Jordan is comfortable with his standing.
He also knows the chance of him progressing from his heat to the final is about as likely as him sitting next to Santa Claus on the flight to Asia.
But he won't let the unlikelihood of Olympic success stop him from having the time of his life.
Jordan earned a wildcard selection to the Games for countries that don't have access to proper training facilities or funding. He hasn't swum an A or B qualifier for Beijing as he hasn't come close.
But Jordan simply wants to have fun in what he hopes is his first of at least three Olympic Games.
Jordan was not part of the Zambian athletes that left the country on Friday for China but will fly directly from his base to link up with his countrymen.
(Xinhua News Agency August 6, 2008)