Barracudas crowned Mat’land champs

BARRACUDAS Swimming Club were crowned champions of the Matabeleland Junior Swimming Championships after dominating both the boys’ and girls’ categories in the gala held at the Bulawayo City Pool last weekend.

The gala was for swimmers from the Under-8 to the Under-12 age groups drawn from local clubs which are Petra Swimming Academy, Zambezi Tigers, Barracudas, Falcon, Stingrays, Crusaders, School of Swimming, Dolphins and Penguins.

Barracudas got 17 gold, 18 silver and 12 bronze medals in their total medals’ haul of 47 in a gala that drew over 100 swimmers.

School of Swimming were second with a total of 25 medals comprising nine gold, eight silver and eight bronze medals while Stingrays were third.

The annual tournament also saw a number of Matabeleland records tumbling with Barracudas’ Onye Onovo (11) breaking three in the girls’ category.

Onovo broke her own record of 37.50 seconds in the 50m butterfly to set a new mark of 35.55 seconds. She went on to shave off 0.55 seconds in the 50m freestyle to set a new record of 32.10 seconds. She completed her hat trick of records when she smashed the 100m individual medley record by one second to register 1 minute 22 seconds.

Tichatonga Makaya of Stingrays broke the 50m freestyle record when he finished in a time of 30.13 seconds, beating the previous record of 30.23 seconds.

Makaya then sliced of 1.18 seconds in the 50m butterfly to finish in 32.00 seconds.

Onesimus Ngwenya of Penguins broke the boys’ Under-11 record of 43.03 seconds in the 50m breaststroke to set a new mark of 42.69 seconds.

Jade Chicksen of the Barracudas was also in the record breaking mix, as she finished the Under-12 girls’ 50m butterfly in 35.63 seconds, beating the previous record of 35.65 seconds

Matabeleland Amateur Swimming Board (MASB) press and liaison officer Thomas Werret said: “We expected the meet to be competitive and it lived up to the billing. The province is now ready for the national championships set for Harare sometime in March. We also used this event for the provincial team selection and we will have the names of those that will travel very soon. I am certain we will put together the best team possible and I have no doubt we will win a number of medals in Harare.”

Meanwhile, MASB will host the National Senior Swimming Championships at the Bulawayo City Pool later this month. — @innocentskizoe