BY MAGRETH RUZVIDZO Zimbabwe’s swimming team is in high spirits after it scooped 26 medals at the ongoing African Union Sports Council (AUSC) Region 5 Youth Games in Maseru, Lesotho.
It bagged seven gold, 10 silver and nine bronze medals to prove that it is a force to reckon with in the region.
Team manager Sharon Chitsurura is optimistic about the future saying the participants will have more opportunities to polish themselves up.
She said the young swimmers learnt a lot from their experience in Lesotho.
“I’m elated, I feel proud to be a manager to such an awesome group of swimmers. It has been a good experience for us all, so many lessons learnt, especially to always keep a positive mindset,” said Chitsurura.
“We had a young group of swimmers with so much potential. They hope to continue representing the country and hopefully secure college scholarships to further their swimming careers.”
One of the coaches, Masi Takaedza, said the swimmers learnt a lot despite facing a number of challenges.
“The experience in Lesotho has been one of mixed emotions. Firstly, there are a lot of things that were not right. We did not have a training pool for the first three days, which was frustrating. I think that one thing we learnt here is that of resilience. We had to keep going under difficult conditions. Also this tour was a good confidence booster for a lot of our swimmers for future competitions,” said Takaedza.
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“On behalf of other coaches, I would like to say the feeling is good, we are proud of our swimmers and the whole team. The journey has been a long one and many thanks to the other coaches back in Zimbabwe who worked with some of the swimmers here. It’s been hard work throughout.”
He added: “Some swimmers achieved qualifying times for future tours, it was a good performance from all.”
Rising swimming star Donata Katai stole the limelight at the event, especially after she managed to scoop three gold medals in a single day in 100m backstroke, 50m backstroke and 100m butterfly heats.
She made headlines in July this year after she became the first black swimmer to represent the country at the Tokyo Olympics in Japan and she set her personal best time at the same event.
- Follow Magreth on Twitter @MagrethRuzvidzo
