8 clubs for Mat’land swimming gala

Ngqwele Dube, Sports Correspondent
STINGRAYS and Barracudas swimming clubs are set to lead in the battle for the 2018 Matabeleland Swimming Championships that begin at the City Pool on Thursday.

The ultimate competition will see eight clubs affiliated to the Matabeleland Swimming Board battling it out for honours with swimmers fighting for a place in the region’s team that would be heading to the Senior National Championships scheduled for Harare in January.

The championships start tomorrow with the 1 500m event before the full event commences on Thursday and runs until Sunday with the selection of the Matabeleland team expected to be finalised on Wednesday next week. Stingrays and Barracudas have been alternating in clinching the galas that have been held since the beginning of the swimming season in September. They each emerged victorious twice with Stingrays walking away with the first and fourth gala while Barracudas came tops in the second and third gala.

Barracudas have been driven by their female swimmers as they consistently emerged tops in the women’s section while Stingrays has been dominating the men’s category.

Zimbabwe Swimming president, Tracey Doorman said they expect to eventually come up with a strong team to be competitive against other nations. She said they also expect the athletes to improve on their times at the event.

“We have seen the lists of other countries such as South Africa and they are coming with strong teams so it is not going to be a walk in the park, so we will have to work hard,” she said. The team will travel with Terence “Barney” O’Hara who is the manager and coach. The Games will run from 7 to 16 December in Gaborone.