All in place for Mat’land swimming championships

LOCAL swimmers will battle it out at the Matabeleland Swimming Championships which start today and end on Sunday at the Bulawayo City Pool, with the best athletes earning rights to represent Matabeleland at national competitions.

The championships are organised by the Matabeleland Amateur Swimming Board (MASB) and will also be used for ranking purposes, with swimmers that post best times enhancing their chances of making it into the Matabeleland team.

The competition is also a qualifying event for next year’s International Swimming Federation (FINA) Youth Games and the March 2017 South African Junior Swimming Championships to be held in Durban.

Nokuthula Cyprianos, chairperson of the MASB, said they were expecting a competitive pool.

“Competition has been tight and young swimmers have been posting impressive times. The stage is set for the Matabeleland Championships and outstanding swimmers will be considered for the Matabeleland team, which will compete at the National Championships to be held early next year in Harare,” said Cyprianos.

She said the quest to break records is likely to motivate swimmers.

“The trainers have been doing a good job and their swimmers are always racing to post better times. That desire to break local and national records can motivate swimmers,” she said.

Among other races swimmers will compete in are 50m butterfly, 100m backstroke, 100m freestyle, 200m individual medley, 50m breaststroke and 800m freestyle.

Some of the swimmers to watch at the championships are Crusaders’ duo Markye Koen and Rianna Rollo, The Falcons’ Liam O’Hara, Hannah Evans from Barracudas and the Penguins trio of Brendan Cyprianos, Dennilson Cyprianos and Norah Tagwireyi. — @ZililoR