Namibian swimmers scoop medals
…as football woes continue
LILONGWE – Namibian swimmers on Monday won the country’s first medals at the ongoing 2022 African Union Sports Council (AUSC) Region 5 Games held at the Indoor Aquatic Swimming Pool at the Kamuzu Institute for Sports.
The swimmers overcame the disappointment of the cancellation of the morning session due to a broken starter block to win two silver medals and three bronze medals.
The first to win a medal for Namibia was Reza Westerduin, who won a silver in the 200m freestyle before Brave Magongo grabbed a bronze medal in the 100m backstroke.
Westerduin was back again to win a bronze in the 200m butterfly before joining other girls in the relay team comprising, Trisha Mutumbula, Jessica Humphrey and Nicole Redecker to add a silver medal in the 400m by 100m (400x100 m) freestyle event.
The last medal of the day was the mixed relay 400mx100m individual medley, with the team comprising of Nico Esslinger, Magongo, Redecker and Westerduin in the
medley event.
Team Namibia coach Adriaan
Maritz was ecstatic with his team’s performance, saying the rough
start from the competition did not discourage the swimmers. He added that the swimmers did well and they are looking forward to more medals and making Namibia proud despite the competition being tough.
Maritz noted that Namibia was competing against stronger swimming countries such as South Africa, Zimbabwe and Zambia.
Meanwhile, in netball, Namibia lost to host Malawi by 42 to 39 points in their second game of the games Monday afternoon.
Coach Jatjinda ‘Tutzi’ Tjihero paid tribute to her team, saying luck was not on their side as they led three of the four quarters.
In women’s football, the Baby Gladiators’ woes continued on Monday when they once again suffered another humiliating 12-0 consecutive defeat to host Malawi.
Namibia played well in the first half, restricting their more illustrious hosts to a 1-0 halftime scoreline.
They, however, collapsed like a deck of cards in the second half, conceding 11 goals.
Action continues today on day five of the competition with Namibian boxers, swimmers and male footballers taking to the various fields of their competition.