The Sunday News
Ngqwele Dube, Sports Correspondent
ZIMBABWE consolidated their lead on the 2017 African Swimming Confederation Zone IV Swimming Championships scoreboard garnering 1 702.5 points by the end of the morning session yesterday.
Zambia were in second place with 1 299 points while South Africa had accumulated 1 163 and in third spot after event 72.
However, it was a slightly different story on the medals table as South Africa are at the top with a total of 47 medals, 25 of them being gold, 16 silver and six being bronze. On the other hand Zimbabwe had bagged 51 medals; 11 gold, 22 silver and 18 bronze while Zambia was third with 10 gold, four silver and 14 bronze.
Robyn Lee has been the toast of Team Zimbabwe as she had clinched five gold medals and four of those wins were new championship times.
The 18-year-old swimming sensation won the 17 and over 100m butterfly in 1:04.43 to eclipse the previous record of 1:05.67, in the 50m race she clocked 28.65 seconds and she shaved three milliseconds off Namibia’s Zanre Oberholzer’s 1:06.10 record in the 100m backstroke to set a new time.
Together with her compatriots, Devyn Leask, Nyasha Mukonoweshuro and Maryke Keon they set a new record in the 15 and over 400m freestyle relay race which they finished in 4:10.28. Her other gold came in the 15 and over 400m free style.
Lee was beaten to the 50m backstroke gold by Seychelles’ Alexus Laird by 11 milliseconds although both swimmers beat the previous record of 31.16 seconds as the latter finished the race in 30.96 seconds and the former clocked 31.05 seconds.
Zimbabwe’s captain Brendon Cyprianos has also held his own clinching silver medals in the 50m and 100m backstroke, bronze in the 100m butterfly and 200m freestyle in the 17 and over age group and clinched gold in the 200m medley relay.
Donata Katai and Kunda Nyambawaro took first and second place in the 12 and under 100m butterfly event to add to the country’s medal count.
Thirteen-year-old Piage van der Westhuizen clinched silver in the 14 and under 400m freestyle and 200m freestyle and bronze in the 100m butterfly, 100m backstroke, 50m breaststroke and 200m breaststroke while she was part of the Zimbabwean team that took silver in the 200m medley relay and 400m freestyle relay.
Cana Zone IV president Jace Naidoo said they were pleased with the competition exhibited by the swimmers so far adding new times were a testimony of the great performances in the pool.
