Strong swimming team targets 5 medals
Calistus Kolantsho | Wednesday April 30, 2014 12:08
Botswana Swimming Sport Association (BSSA) treasurer, Collette Van Der Colf said the team began preparations last December with a trip to the 10th Africa Youth Championships in Zambia.
The swimmers participated in the national championships in Gaborone the same month as preparations gathered pace. Der Colf said intensive training for the swimmers commenced in January in different camps. Four swimmers, David Van Der Colf, Ruele, Tanya Toth and Van Der Merwe are based in South Africa.
Kitso Matija, Kgosi Molefinyana, Amantle Mogara train at the Darrel Morton School of Swimmers and Seabe Ebineng trains at Gaborone Aquatic Club. The team will be in camp until the Africa Youth Games starts in Gaborone late next month. Collette Van Der Colf said swimmers based outside the country will join the rest of the team on May 21.
The swimming competition at the games take place from May 23-26 at the University of Botswana swimming pool. Collette said that the Botswana Africa Youth Games Organising Committee (BAYGOC) has got BSSA support to secure funding for the necessary equipment. “We are still going to put equipment that will warm the water. We want to make sure that the venue reaches certain standards because this is going to be an International Swimming Federation (FINA) event,” she said.
She stated that David, Ruele and Van Der Merwe qualified for Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games after a good performance in Cape Town in March. During the competition, the highly rated Ruele walked away with a bronze and silver medal while David won two gold.
The swimmers went for another competition in Johannesburg where Matija won one gold and one silver medals. Ruele and David took part in the senior swimming championships in South Africa where Ruele grabbed bronze medal in the 50m back-stroke.
Collette stated out that for the first time, Botswana swimmers have qualified for the Youth Olympics.
ABOUT AYG SWIMMING
Sport: Swimming
Venue: UB swimming pool
Seating Capacity: approximately 500
Coach: Valerie Ives
Team Manager: Connie Mogara
Athletes: (boys) David Van Der Colf, Andre Van Der Merwe, Kitso Matija and Kgosi Molefinyana.
Girls: Naomi Ruele, Amantle Mogara, Tanya Toth and Seabe Ebineng.
Participating countries: Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique, Swaziland, Lesotho, Tunisia, Mali, Algeria, Egypt, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Sudan, Ghana, Gabon, Rwanda, Mauritius, Seychelles, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea, Senegal, Comores, Angola, Benin, Mali, Namibia, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Libya, Malawi, Morocco, Republic of Congo, Madagascar, Burkina Faso, Togo, Tanzania, Liberia