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THE Matabeleland Swimming Board (MSB) is holding a five-day Matabeleland Senior Swimming Championships gala that started at the Bulawayo City Pool on Monday.
The Bulawayo City Council has availed the MSB the facility for this event only before continuing with renovations afterwards.
Bulawayo City Pool was shut down due to plumbing problems that developed after the African Union Sports Council Region 5 Youth Games last December.
Swimmers will compete in the 200M individual medley, 200M backstroke, 50M breaststroke and 400M freestyle.
The gala will run until Sunday afternoon and feature seven participating clubs, which include defending champions Crusaders, Barracudas, BG Dolphins, Falcons, Penguins, SOS and Zambezi Tigers from Victoria Falls.
Veteran swimmers Liam Hara and Brendon Cyprianos are expected to compete in the event and use their experience in the relays.
Grant Smith, Maryke Koen, Lashay Green, Riana Rollo, Dale Bruce, Melwa Netsha, the Macallister sisters Courtney and Jessica are all expected to go for records.
MSB press and liaison officer Joseph Gliwitzki said swimmers had been training hard and they were expecting a number of records to fall.
“It’s really been long since we had a swimming gala, but we’re hoping to have a good event. We hope to have a large crowd attending the gala,” said Gliwitzki.
derick.khumalo