ZAU looking at long term

Sports Reporter
WHILE local swimmers found the going tough at the just-ended FINA World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Zimbabwe Aquatic Union president Mary Kloppers has said they are investing in the future.

Zimbabwe had four swimmers — Peter Wetzlar, James Lawson, Robyn Lee and Devyn Leask — at the championships that ended on Sunday. But all the four could not go past the heats in their respective events.

The best performance was personal best times by Leask in the women’s 200m and 100m freestyle while Lawson equalled the national record he set two years ago in Kazan when he swam the 50m breaststroke in a time of 28.85s.

Leask set her new personal best time in the 200m freestyle at 2mins 8.13s from her previous time of 2mins 9.71s and had another personal best in the 100m freestyle with a time of 59.08s.

Kloppers said they were aware it was going to be a difficult assignment to reach the finals and their focus was on the development side.

“Overall we are very happy with the swimmers performance as they are young. We knew we would not make to finals . . . but this is a big developmental stage of their swimming career.

“It was also a great experience for them to rub shoulders with their heroes,” said Kloppers.

Wetzlar took part in the men’s 100m and 50m freestyle and Lee represented the country in the women’s 100m butterfly and 100m backstroke.

Zimbabwe had Wetzlar making history at the championships as the first male from this country to qualify for the competition. The other members of the team were selected based on FINA points after Zimbabwe got four slots to the event. “Our goal with Peter (Wetzlar) and indeed all our current elite swimmers is long term and an event such as this, at this stage of their careers, is more about learning to cope with the pressures,” Kloppers said.