Another local swimmer qualifies for

Calistus Kolantsho | Thursday December 5, 2013 17:37

Ruele qualified for the summer games in April. Botswana Swimming Sport Association (BSSA) spokesperson Priscilla Parker told Mmegi Sport that Van der Colf qualified for the Olympics during the 10th Africa Junior Championships that were held at the Olympic Development Centre in Lusaka, Zambia over the weekend.

She said that Van der Colf attained a ‘B’ qualifying time in the backstroke. Parker said Van der Colf and Ruele have been selected into the elite African Swimming Confederation (CANA) Zone Four team.

She said that the swimming body has selected 18 swimmers from 12 African countries and explained that being in the elite CANA team gives swimmers an advantage over others.  She said that swimmers selected into the CANA team would be assisted with training; funding and participation in all CANA sanctioned events. The Botswana team comprised of Kristian van der Merwe, Matthew Ives, Andre van der Merwe, Michael Botha, Van der Colf and Kitso Matija. Girls who had been selected to represent the country are Tanya Toth and Larissa Fourie.  The Olympics team will travel with Collete van der Colf (team manager), Andrew Leppan (coach) and Matshelo Radimo (chaperone).

Parker said the team did not bring medals but most of the swimmers managed to get personal best times.

Meanwhile, BSSA will hold national swimming championships at the University of Botswana (UB) swimming pool next week. Parker explained that after the event BSSA would select a team that would represent Botswana at the CANA swimming gala in Uganda next year. The team manager, Collette, said Botswana had a small team when compared to 15 countries that participated in the event. She said the boys got position four overall and that showed the strength that they have. The team managed to finish the competition in position nine.  She said the performance by the team was an indication that the local swimmers were competitive. Collette said there was need for more investment towards swimming.  She said lack of facilities was hampering the development of swimmers in the country.