Zambia win swimming tourney

Zambia emerged overall winners of the Africa Swimming Confederation (Cana) Zone IV Championship after hauling 82 medals and bagging 2 309 points.

The four-day competition, which attracted 14 countries, was held at Africa Bible College (ABC) in Lilongwe.

Zimbabwe were runners-up with 1 402 points while South Africa, which netted 55 medals and 1 398 points, came third.

Malawi settled for seventh place after managing 13 medals; five gold, three silver and five bronze.

Filipe Gomes was outstanding for Malawi after winning five gold and one silver medals.

Thirty-two Malawian swimmers contested in the competition which started lastWednesday.

“We could have won 15 medals, but we missed two by a whisker and only finished fourth, a place off bronze medal, in some two categories,” said Malawi Aquatic Union (MAU) president Willie Tafatatha.

While acknowledging that Malawi did better than the previous editions, Tafatatha was fair enough to admit that there is a wide gap between Malawi and fellow southern African nations.

“From the results, what we have seen is that our colleagues are in a different class. However, I am proud with the way our team performed. It was a tough competition,” he said.

During the awards presentation and closing ceremony, Malawi earned praise for hosting the competition.

“Malawi showed us that with commitment we can achieve our goals. The competition was well organised and we will leave this country with fond memories,” said Cana Zone IV president Jace Naidoo, attracting a wild applause.

In appreciation of hosting them, visiting teams gave Malawi souvenirs which included paintings and sculptors.

Namibia will host the competition next year. n