There was a mood of shock and disbelief among the 12 Zimbabwe swimmers, who have trained assiduously over the past four months with this single-minded goal.
Most have been training for 7-9km per day, including “dawn patrols” of 05.30am before school and they are highly-tuned for this continental championship.
This event is held every two years and was in Mauritius last year and in Algeria in 2004. It has been on the calendar for more than two years and yet the Egyptian Swimming Federation have shattered the hopes of all the continent’s young swimmers by citing “pool technicalities and accommodation difficulties” as their reason to cancel the gala.
Their communique stated the championships were “postponed indefinitely” but this was little comfort to the swimmers or to coaches, parents and supporters who have secured and paid for expensive accommodation, flights and tours.
It is a decision that is likely to impact on more than 1,000 people from all over Africa who were booked to go to Cairo.
The national junior team will, as a substitute, now compete in the Mashonaland championships to be staged over the next two weekends, starting this Friday evening (18h00) at Harare’s Les Brown Pool.
The Zimbabwe team of 30 swimmers has been selected for the Sub Saharan Africa Swimming Championships to be held in Lilongwe, Malawi, from 3-5 January 2008. The team is:
Boys: Andrew Chance, Nick James, Tim Desmond, Fabio Makuzva, Alex Derry, Dion Kruger, Drew Rosser, Sean Gunn, Tatenda Zinyemba, Jason Shaw, Corey O’Riordan, Dylan Rosser, Sloane Marshall, James Lawson, Levi Fargnoli, Federico Bescotti, Rhyder Quinlan, Edward Byrom.
Girls: Bronwyn Palmer, Roxanne Viviers, Shannon Taute, Anne Stack, Amy Bond, Samantha Welch, Tarryn Rennie, Megan Carey-Smith, Bree Caterall, Estelle Stambolie, Danielle de Wet, Dayna York.
Little Robyn Lee, of Spartans Club, was both the youngest swimmer and the star of the fourth Mashonaland Junior League Gala at the Les Brown Pool on Sunday morning (25 Nov).
Robyn once again underlined her immense potential for the future by winning all three of her races, coming close to the Zimbabwe record in the girls 8-and-under 33 yards freestyle.
Robyn clocked 21.61 seconds, just half-a-second off C. Fogerty’s national mark set 27 years ago in 1980.
As the only eight-year-old in the race she then beat a field of 12 swimmers in the Girls 9-and-under 132 yards individual medley.
Her time of 2min 04.77sec was 10 second ahead of her nearest challenger, although still 16 seconds off Nikki Bradshaw’s 1996 national record. Robyn has another year to still attack this record.
In the girls 8-and-under 33 yards backstroke, her favourite stroke, Robyn (26.01) fought a close tussle with Emma Stijkel (26.64), within sight of S. Moodie’s Mashonaland record of 25.30 set in 1983.
Before the season started she stated her objective was “to be like Kirsty Coventry” and with such early dedication and focus she is heading in the right direction.
Kendel Lindsay-White, of Highlands Club, swam with great rhythm to win the girls 11-year-olds 66 yards breaststroke by six seconds over Misty Batchelor of Otters. However, this time is almost three seconds off Kirsty Coventry’s 1994 national record.
Stuart Price demonstrated his special ability as a backstroker when he won the Boys 9-year-olds 33 yards event in 24.92 seconds, just over a second off Richard Sainsbury’s Mashonaland mark. – Sports reporter
Post published in: Zimbabwe Sports News