BY MAGRETH RUZVIDZO Team Zimbabwe coach Masi Takaedza at the 19th FINA World Championships, which commences today in Budapest, Hungary, hopes the event will help individual players to improve their skills and world rankings.
Zimbabwe is represented by home-based rising star Donata Katai together with three foreign swimmers — Nomvula Mjimba, Denilson Cyprianos and Liam Davies.
Takaedza left the country for Hungary with Katai on Tuesday where they joined the rest of the team.
Katai will be the first from the Zimbabwe side to compete today in the 100m backstroke heat.
She captured the hearts of many and made headlines last year when she became the first black swimmer to represent the country at the Olympics where she also managed to record her personal best time.
Katai will be hoping for further improvement on her performance as she gears for Paris 2024.
Though the other three swimmers are foreign based, Takaedza said he has managed to co-ordinate with them, assessing their progress as they worked on areas that needed fine-tuning before the event.
“Preparation stage was okay as all athletes were training at their respective bases,” Takaedza said.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
“We arrived safely in Budapest. I’m with Donata and Denilson so far. Nomvula will arrive tomorrow (today) afternoon and Liam will come the day after (tomorrow),” said Takaedza.
“We have prepared the swimmers to try and get best times. Obviously we have tried to cover all areas of racing and these include starts, turns and fitness.
“We have an up and coming team. We are basically here to improve swimmers rankings and if possible get personal best times.”
The 19th FINA World Championships feature the aquatic disciplines including swimming, diving, water polo, artistic swimming and open water swimming.
The world’s best athletes will converge in Budapest for the event.
- Follow Magreth on Twitter @MagrethRuzvidzo
