Kirsty’s records tumble

BY CAJ NEWS
HARARE – Zimbabwe’s’ latest swimming sensation, 11-year-old Samantha Welch of Harare, was hoisted shoulder-high by her jubilant Spartans Club team-mates after she cracked a second Kirsty Coventry national record in the space of three weeks.
The blonde, elfin-like Sam powered through the water with amazing sustained strength to clock 33.01 seconds for the 50 metres butterfly at the National Sprint Gala earlier this month Mutare.
This eclipsed the 33.18sec Girls 12-and-Under mark set in 1995 by Zimbabwe’s greatest all-time swimmer – Olympic and world champion Kirsty Coventry.
Earlier, in what was a momentous day for “Super Sam”, she snatched a second Zimbabwe 12-and-under record in the 50 metres breaststroke in clocking 38.11 seconds to replace Maxine Heard’s 2003 record of 38.70sec. These were the only two Zimbabwe records breached in Mutare, though several other swimmers shone.
Seven swimmers notched up Prestige Level 3 qualifying times – gruelling requirements in order to compete in South Africa’s “cream-of-the-crop” age group gala in East London in March.
These notable achievements were (Prestige standards in brackets):
Boys 14: Matthew Lawson (Pirates), 50 metres butterfly: 30.73sec (30.77).
Boys 15: Jamie Schultz (Bulawayo Crusaders), 50 metres butterfly: 29.32sec (29.34).
Boys 12: James Lawson (Pirates), 50 metres breaststroke: 37.45sec (39.20)
Girls 12: Samantha Welch (Spartans), 50 metres breaststroke: 38.11sec (40.31); 50 metres butterfly: 33.01sec (34.44).
Girls 13: Amy Bond (Spartans), 50 metres breaststroke: 38.3sec (39.04)
Girls 14: Tara Wallace (Spartans), 50 metres butterfly: 32.80sec (32.82).
Girls 16: Moira Fraser (Spartans), 50 metres butterfly: 31.2sec (32.28); 50 metres freestyle: 28.45sec (28.90).
Nick James (17), whose mother was a national swimmer, dominated the Boys 17 and over age group in Mutare. Apart from his one Prestige qualifying time he also won the 50 metres backstroke and 50 metres freestyle.