SWIMMING icon Kirsty Coventry yesterday landed a top post in local sports after she was voted one of the two vice-presidents of the Zimbabwe Olympic Committee (ZOC).
BY HENRY MHARA
Already serving as a representative on the Foundation Board of the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) and a vice-president for the International surfing Association, Coventry, who retired from professional swimming last year, will deputise Admire Masenda, who retained his post as ZOC president.
Thabani Gonye retained his post as the other vice-president.
In an election that virtually restored the old order, Addison Chiware, Letitia Chipandu, Rick Fulton and Custom Kachambwa retained their board member status, and will be joined by new faces Frederick Ndlovu and Stephen Mudawarima, while Titus Zvomuya withdrew his right as he is now a Sports and Recreation Commission board member.
Cleopas Nyangoni also retained his treasurer post.
Coventry, who was a ZOC board member before her elevation to replace Sibusisiwe Chindove who did not seek another term, garnered 38 of the 42 votes cast. She said she was thrilled to win the top post.
“The first thing we need to do is to sit down as the new board and ensure we are on the same page. We need to put in a long-term plan, we tend to change every three four years after every Olympic and looking at the more established countries they tend to have an obvious plan. As much as we want to focus on 2020 Olympics, we also need to start looking at 2024 and see how we can support our athletes and their federations,” Coventry said. “There is huge value I can bring. There are a lot of opportunities for us to grow, but we will need consistent support from the corporates and the government to ensure that we are not alone in this journey.”
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Masenda retained his post after getting 31 votes, beating Joe Rugwete and Charles Mukaronda who received nine and two votes respectively.
ZOC executive board members:
President: Admire Masenda;
Vice-presidents: Kirsty Coventry, Thabani Gonye;
Board members: Addison Chiware, Letitia Chipandu, Rick Fulton, Custom Kachambwa, Stephen Mudawarima, Frederick Ndlovu; Treasurer: Cleopas Nyangoni
