adminSimbarashe Dube Sports Reporter
THE Matabeleland Junior Swimming team is hoping to win a number of medals at the National Junior Swimming Championships which are scheduled for Gateway High School in Harare on Saturday and Sunday. A team of 33 swimmers comprising both boys and girls was selected a fortnight ago by the Matabeleland Swimming Board.
Swimmers who made the grade were chosen based on their performance at the Matabeleland Junior Swimming Championships which were held at Bulawayo’s Hillside Teachers College.
Lorna Riley the coach of the provincial team is confident that the swimmers are the best and they will get a number of medals, though she cried foul on the number of swimmers in the team.
“We have put together the best team and I have no doubt that we will gather a number of medals, but the honest truth here is that a province with a team of below 40 cannot compete with a team of 70 when points go down to the 8th position,” said Riley.
Skippering the teams will be the 12-year-olds, Farhaan May in the boys’ category and Rianna Rollo who will lead the girls. Thomas Werrett and Gloria Rollo are the team managers.
Joseph Gwilinski, the MSB spokesperson, told Sunday News that preparations were under way and the provincial team had been selected from the six clubs that participated in the provincial championships.
“Preparations are under way and the criterion used to select the team was the Matabeleland championship in which there were six clubs affiliated to the Matabeleland Swimming Board that participated,” said Gwilinski.
“Barracudas, Penguins, School of Swimming, Crusaders, BG Dolphins and Zambezi Tigers from Victoria Falls are the names of the six clubs that took part in the competition.”
In preparation for the national championships, the swimmers have been training at their clubs every evening and they met on Friday afternoon for a group session under the supervision of their instructor.
Just about two weeks ago, in the Senior Swimming Championships which were held at Bulawayo’s City Pool, Matabeleland came second to Mashonaland who succeeded in their quest of defending the title that they won last year at Les Brown Pool in Harare.
For many years the Matabeleland side has been winning a second trophy, known as the Aggregate. Also in the previous years, the team has once been on stalemate with Mashonaland and at some point lost the second trophy to it.
As was the case in the senior swimming season, the end of the junior championships will also signify the end of the season for the junior swimmers.
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