Learning curve for Eswatini

Sunday greetings!

We at the Eswatini Sport and Recreation Council ( ESRC) are past the stage of praising mediocrity.

We are no longer impressed by pedestrian performances, especially in the international stage. However, allow us to praise swimmer Simanga Dlamini, who obtained a Personal Best ( PB) time during his 50m freestyle at the Tokyo, Japan Olympic Games on Friday afternoon.

He had at t ended t he 2020 event with a p e r s o n a l b e s t t i me o f 2 7 . 1 4 b u t f o u g h t bravely, defying the odds to finish with a time of 26.94. It was Dlamini’s first taste of the Olympics, the world’s biggest sporting extravaganza, but his performance was that of a seasoned campaigner.

Robyn Young, the country’s future prospect in games of this magnitude, was understandably overawed by the stage. It was her first time too, taking part in the Olympics. Unfortunately for her, having gone into the Games with a PB of 30: 04, she finished with a time of 30: 06. Fortunately, both swimmers have age on their side. Both still have a number of Olympics ahead of them. We are positive that they have learned from this first outing.

We cannot really crucify them. As we had said in our previous article, it’s never easy in the world’s biggest stage. It’s never easy against the finest the world has to offer.

It is fair to say both swimmers gave it their best shot even though their best was not good enough for a podium finish.

With the elimination of the two swimmers from the Games, hopes are now with sprinter, Sibusiso ‘ Swazi Bolt’ Matsenjwa. He too will obviously face stiff competition. He too will need to dig deeper into his reserves of courage to do well.

Saneliso Motsa has done us proud

Speaking of podium finishes, very little could have prepared us for the exploits of taekwondo artist, Saneliso Motsa.

He defied the odds to bring home a gold medal after emerging as the winner in the tournament hosted in Maputo, Mozambique.

There i s no doubt t hat Motsa has made us proud. The future of our sports is indeed bright with emerging artists like him. Podium finishes in the international stage deserve to be celebrated by everyone. The local association also deserves a pat on the back for a job well done in grooming the artist. It is our goal to have a winning nation and we cannot take for granted such an achievement. Indeed Motsa has hoisted the country’s flag. We are confident that his achievement will inspire a majority of our sports people to do even better.

Likewise, the senior men’s football team Sihlangu Semnikati also deserves accolades for their third place finish in the region’s COSAFA Cup. Finishing ahead of bigger and we’ll developed countries was no mean feat. Indeed the pride of the nation is soaring high again. Let this be the start of good things for our sports

We are monitoring the situation

We always pride ourselves in being an organisation that is in touch with the situation facing our people. That is the reason we are closely monitoring the COVID- 19 pandemic situation. We will not rush into making any decision that could put people’s lives at risk.

We greatly appreciate the enquiries with regard sports activities. We also commend those sports associations that are adhering to the lockdown rules and regulations.

For now, the sports movement would have done well to stay safe. We on the other hand remain determined to serve the nation through quality sport and recreational activities.

Until next week sport for all sport for life!