The Sunday News
Sports Correspondent
UP-AND-COMING swimming sensation, Denilson Cyprianos put up an impressive performance last week at the South African juniors when he broke two national records on his way to qualifying for the South African senior national championships.
Cyprianos joins his brother, Brendon, United Kingdom-based Devyn Leask and Harare based Miguel Umali as the four Zimbabwean swimmers who qualified for the prestigious South African senior nationals that run from 3 to 8 April in Durban.
Denilson clocked one minute 03.51 seconds in the 100m backstroke to eclipse both the Matabeleland and national record set by Brendon McDonald (1.04.02) in 1995 and Peter Wetzlar (1.03.66) in 2012.
The 14-year-old Christian Brothers College pupil also set a new record in the 200m backstroke when he finished the race in two minutes 16.38 seconds bettering McDonald’s two minutes 17.60 seconds which stood at the Matabeleland and national record.
Proving to be a backstroke specialist, Denilson made a Matabeleland record in the 50m backstroke reaching the finish line in 30.28 seconds. The previous record of 31.46 seconds had been set by McDonald.
Harare-based swimmer, Donata Katai was in good form at the SA juniors clinching gold in the 50m butterfly in a time of 30.29 seconds and also came back with a bronze medal in the 50m backstroke.
Liam Davies got silver in the 200m breaststroke in a time of two minutes 23.19 seconds as he became the second Zimbabwean swimmer to clinch a medal at the SA junior championships. The local swimmers will come up against the best in South Africa and they will have to be at their best to come up with any medals.
