admin
Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
PARTICIPANTS from Manicaland gave a good account of themselves in the just-ended Zimbabwe senior swimming nationals that took place in Bulawayo at the City Pool from last week Thursday to Monday.
Even though Manicaland had no gold or silver medallists, to the credit of swimmers from the province, all of them had personal bests in all strokes, with Niel Malde and Lewis Mushoweshiri grabbing bronze medals in the 400m relays and silver in 50m relays.
The event saw about 700 swimmers from across the country taking part, while about 1 500 spectators graced the occasion.
Competitors from Manicaland were Lewis Mushoweshiri, Niel Malde, Tinashe Bereson, Samuel Kushata and Mandlenkosi Mthethwa, then boys captain, Salome Mandudzi and Inkosinomusa Mthethwa, the girl’s captain.
Participants from Manicaland travelled and competed under the tutelage of coach, Nyasha Mukonyora and team manager, Anneke Chan Jack. Duduzile Mthethwa, the Manicaland Amateur Swimming chairperson, also travelled with the team.
“A big thank you to our senior coaches, Chan Jack and Nyasha Nyamunokora for taking time off their busy schedules to train the swimmers. We were honoured to have Minister Kirsty Coventry and senior Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) and Zimbabwe Olympics Committee (ZOC) officials in attendance,” said Mthethwa.
Guest of honour at the event was Allan Fritz, president of Swim South Africa, while Zimbabwe Aquatic president, Onismo Nhondova was also in attendance.
Mthethwa commended parents who supported participants during the event.
“We really want to thank all the parents who travelled with the team. Their support is priceless. We were privileged to be part of an event that was well organised and had many icons in attendance.
“We also had Donata Katai, who is in the 17-24 age group, an international swimmer who participated in the recently held Worlds which was good exposure and experience to the girls.
“For our first time swimmers, it was a privilege to swim in an Olympic standard pool with touch pads,” she said.
Mashonaland West, Mashonaland Country Districts, Harare International Schools, Midlands, Manicaland, Bulawayo Amateur Swimming (BASA ), being the main host, Matebeleland South although bigger provinces were split.
The next event is the Junior Nationals to be held in Harare at Chisipite Junior next month where Yvonne Mubaiwa, Alvin Mufute, Ethan Almwar, Tiago Da Silva and Keen Chizondo will be lifting the Manicaland flag.
Online Reporter