Online Reporter
Ellina Mhlanga
Zimpapers Sports Hub
THE Zimbabwe swimming team left a mark at the just-ended Africa Aquatics Zone IV Championships after claiming 44 medals and finishing third in Windhoek, Namibia.
The championships held recently attracted 15 countries that included 13 Zone IV member countries and two guest nations.
Hosts Namibia emerged winners, ahead of South Africa and Zimbabwe in that order.
Zimbabwe Swimming had a team of 28 swimmers, and they did not disappoint when clinching 11 gold, 17 silver, and 16 bronze medals. Team Zimbabwe manager Shireen Ramajan was full of praise for the swimmers.
“So, we had a fantastic performance. We came third overall, which was very good. We were only about 60 points behind team South Africa. So, I think we did very well.
“Our key swimmers, Mikayla Makwabarara, Alexis Johnsen, Acacia Watson, and Amaranthine Dunkley, didn’t disappoint in their events.
“We broke, I think, the girls 4x50m freestyle relay record. So, Zimbabwe is now the record holder for that event, so that is very good news for us.
“And we have two national records that were broken, but they need to be ratified before we can announce them.”
The girls relay team posted a time of 1:50.76 to set the new Zone IV record. The previous record was 1:52.87 set by team Zimbabwe in 2017. The team was made up of Tanatswa and Tafadzwa Chandiwana, Vhenekai Dhemba, and Mikayla Makwabarara.
Apart from the medals, most of the swimmers posted personal best times in their respective events during the championships.
Ramajan believes they are in the right direction as they prepare for upcoming tours to South Africa and the African Union Sports Council Region 5 Youth Games due to take place next year. “So, basically every single swimmer that went into the water contributed to us coming third because we get points for every swimmer.
“We had a lot of swimmers who were coming in the top five; almost every event our swimmers were coming in the top five, which is very good. And almost every swimmer got personal best times at this gala.
“It’s actually an indication we are in the positive direction because from next year there are other bigger competitions.
“We have got our Region 5 Games. So, because we ended up on such a high note, we are anticipating very good times in our Region 5 Games next year,” said Ramajan.
They already have a long list in place for next year’s Region 5 Games.
And with the National Junior and Senior Championships due to take place in January and February, Zimbabwe Swimming are looking at finalising their team for the regional Games after the national events. They are also hoping more of their swimmers make the times for the South Africa Senior Championships.
“So right now we are looking forward to our kids getting qualifying times for South Africa Senior Nationals.
“So that’s a huge competition. That is like the stepping stone for our kids to get to the world competitions that will be coming up next year.
“So, we are hoping to get more of our kids making the seniors, South Africa Senior Nationals times. “So, all these preparations, all these competitions are stepping stones to get to those qualifying times. So, we are hoping that by Nationals our kids would have performed much better than they did in December.
“And then when we get to Region 5, we are hoping that the times will keep getting better and better so that we can get to our final Youth (Olympic) Games.” The Youth Olympic Games are scheduled for 2026 in Senegal.
