The Sunday News
Ngqwele Dube, Sports Correspondent
ZIMBABWE Swimming chairperson Tracey Doorman believes local swimmers should now focus on the Cana Junior Africa Swimming Championships scheduled for Tunisia in September after making impressive performances at the South African National Junior Age Groups held recently.
Six swimmers who were part of the team that travelled to Durban for the SA Juniors broke eight records during the meet at Kings Park Pool. Doorman said they were pleased with the showings by the swimmers and believes the next step is for them to take part in the Cana Junior Africa Swimming Championships and the Fina World Junior Swimming Championships penciled for August in Budapest, Hungary.
“For many of these swimmers their next step is the Junior African Championships or Junior Worlds. Realistically they have only an outside chance of qualification to the Tokyo Olympics because of the process of Olympic qualification and the Olympic pathway. However, the 2024 Olympics are a much more realistic goal,” she said.
At the SA Junior Nationals which ended last Sunday, Zimbabwe managed to bag 13 medals, two gold, six silver and five bronze for individual events while collecting two silver medals in relay events.
Stingrays’ swimmer, Denilson Cyprianos showed his mettle in the backstroke as he set new records in the 100m and 200m events as he made three new national times.
Cyprianos clinched silver medals in the 100m and 200m events cementing his status as the emerging “king of backstroke”. He came second in the16-year- olds 100m backstroke in a time of 59,72 seconds as he eclipsed Peter Wetzlar’s record (1 minute 00,11 seconds) that stood for the past 17 years.
Denny, as he is affectionately known, also shaved off a massive two seconds off both the 17-year- old and the Open 200m Backstroke Record as he clinched silver in a time of two minutes 08,64 seconds to eclipse Brendan Ashby’s open record that stood at two minutes 10,40 seconds.
Ashby set the record in July 2003 and the following year attended the Athens Olympics.
Donata Katai clinched a gold medal as she came in first in the 14-years-olds 100m backstroke in a record time of one minute 05,60 seconds to beat Kirsty Coventry’s one minute 05,94 seconds and she also won gold in the 50m backstroke in a time of 31,34 seconds.
Graham Hoal (16) also won two silver medals in the 50m freestyle and 50m butterfly events in a time of 24,92 seconds and 26,27 seconds respectively setting a new record in the later race.
Hoal eclipsed Wetzlar’s in the 50m butterfly by six milliseconds to set a new time in the 16-year-old age category.
Other swimmers that broke records include Paige Van Der Westhuizen (15), Tichatonga Makaya and Paul Mwipikeni although they did not make podium finishes.
Van Der Westhuizen was sixth in a time of 34,40 seconds in the 15-year-olds 50m breaststroke while Makaya (13) came in sixth in the 100m butterfly to set a new record of one minute 05,24 seconds while Mwipikeni had swam one minute 05,80 seconds in the heats.
Zimbabwe’s other medals came from Josh Covill (13) who was third (32,43 seconds) in the 50m breaststroke and second in the 100m breaststroke touching the pad in one minute 14,80 seconds and third (02.39.39) in the 200m event with Cory Werret clinching silver (31,55 seconds) in the 50m breaststroke for the 14-year-olds and came third in the 100m breaststroke in one minute 09,22 seconds, Van Der Westhuizen clinched silver in the 200m freestyle in a time of two minutes 07,59 seconds.
