The ManicaPost
Fungayi Munyoro Sports Correspondent
MORE than 90 swimmers recently converged at Hillcrest Preparatory School in Penhalonga to take part in the Manicaland League Gala.
The one-day event held last Friday saw top swimmers from five schools and clubs taking part in eight age groups: Eight and under, nine, 10, 11, 12, 13-14, 15-16 and 17 and over. The schools and clubs which took part included the host Hillcrest Preparatory School, Hillcrest College, Border Dolphins, Aqua Splash and Chancellor Primary School.
The races included butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle. Each swimmer was allowed to take part in a maximum of four events. This was the first provincial tournament in Manicaland and according to one of the organisers, Anne White, it will be a monthly event.
“The tournament is open to every school and club in the province.
“This is our first tournament and we hope to make it a monthly tournament where we will assess and develop our swimmers as a province.
“There will not be any awards but we will be focusing more on developing the athletes and working on time trials. We hope to develop our local schools and clubs in the province.
“We will be using these galas for development as well as selecting our swimmers who will be taking part at national galas. It will provide us with a wide range to select from,” said White. She added that the sport is still growing in the province as they do not have a lot of participants when it comes to national events.
“The sport is still growing in our province; we do not have numbers compared to other provinces. It has really affected our performances. We will be there soon.
‘‘Our seniors are doing quite well when it comes to national galas. We also have swimmers from our province who have represented the nation at regional levels,” she said.
