Future swim stars shine

By Tinashe Kusema

SHARKS and Zimbabwe Pirates yesterday took further steps to cement their dominance of Zimbabwean swimming as the two put up yet another polished performance to dominate the medal podium on the fifth day of the Mashonaland Swimming Championships at Les Brown Complex.

Despite Pirates’ slight 104-point advantage over Sharks at the end of the day’s proceedings, it was the latter who dominated the day to set up a mouth-watering finale this morning.
Led by Alexander Derry, the Sharks collected a massive 20 medals, with Pirates close behind on 15 medals.
Spartans (8), Otters (6) and Highlands (5) maintained their positions on the log standings, together with Dorado despite not making it to the podium. 
Marlins, who anchor the table, failed to even make an impression on the day as they went home empty-handed after their only medal hopeful, Walter Koffi, finished just out of the medal positions.
Koffi, who is part of the two-man club, featured in one of the day’s main races, the 50 metres breaststroke, and finished fourth with a time of 38,95 seconds.
Alexander Derry won that race with a time of 33,06 followed by Timothy Desmond (37,77) and Tyron Richards (38,80). 
For the fifth day running, no records were broken at the gala, with organisers refusing to be fazed while choosing to concentrate on the positives.
According to Mashonaland Swimming Board chairperson Mary Kloppers, the swimmers have been showing great improvement especially with their times.
“It’s indeed quite disappointing that we are yet to witness any new records, with the closest being Matthew Lawson, who came close to breaking the 200m butterfly earlier in the competition, but we have seen a lot of swimmers improving their times, which shows great growth.
“I will admit we had high hopes of some new records, but after Samantha Welch withdrew, we were anticipating this outcome,” said Mary Kloppers.
Action resumes this morning as the gala enters into the final day with about 12 finals lined up.
In Welch’s absence, focus will mainly centre on the Under-14 Tyron Rennie and the Lawson brothers, Matthew and James, who will feature in the day’s main races.
Rennie is not only a medal hopeful but also the tournament’s last hope for a new record in the girls’ 50m butterfly, while the Lawsons are likely to brew a storm in the freestyle relays and individual medley races.
Also on offer will be the 200 metres breaststroke which will be Marlin’s last medal hope.

SUNDAY MAIL 29 Nov 2009Zim Pirates extend lead

By Tinashe Kusema

 SPEARHEADED by the Lawson brothers, James and Mathew, Zimbabwe Pirates claimed 59 medals to help consolidate their lead as the Mashonaland Senior Swimming Championships entered the second day yesterday at Les Brown Swimming complex in Harare. The tournament, which runs over two weeks every year, is a high-level developmental gala, with over 300 competitors, designed to groom quality swimmers as the country prepares for next year’s challenging calendar.“Unlike most sports in the world, swimming is a very individualistic sport, where the goal is to achieve specific times for one to be eligible for national team selection.“It is because of this important point that we hold such tournaments where we identify outstanding swimmers, considering that we have two important events, namely Zone 3 and 4 swimming championships in Kenya and South African tours, coming up early next year,” said Mashonaland Swimming Association chairperson Mary Kloppers.
Over 12 finals took place at yesterday’s proceedings, in which the Lawsons cemented their dominance in the local swimming circuit, taking turns to walk to the podium to collect their medals.
Most eyes were on the younger of the two, James, who recently put the country on the international map after he came back with two gold medals, in the 100m breaststroke and 200 individual medley, from the 8th Junior Swimming Championships in Mauritius last month.The 14-year-old collected three more gold medals in the Under-14 200 and 400 metres individual medley, 100 metres breaststroke.
Not to be outdone, the elder of the two siblings had his fair share of success winning a gold and silver medals in the Under-15 400 metres individual medley and 50 metres butterfly respectively. Other Pirates who made it to the podium were Drew Rosser (gold Under-15 50 metres butterfly), Natasha Lawson (silver girls' Under-14 400 metres freestyle) and Tyron Richards (bronze boys Under-17 and Open).
Action continues this morning when the top three clubs — Pirates, Sharks and Harare Otters — meet again, as the battle for supremacy in the water continues.
Latest standings
1. Zimbabwe Pirates 2192.
Sharks 2123.
Harare Otters 1944.
Spartans 1525.
Highlands 606.
Dorado Swim Club 547.
Marlins 9

Zim's swimming future bright

She, however, said the new national records set by Lawson, Kaleigh Graham and Samantha Welch are yet to be ratified by the Zimbabwe Swimming Board. ...


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