The two-day event gave swimmers an opportunity to put their endurance to test. The association has always been synonymous with sprints championships such as the BSSA national swimming championships.
Speaking to SportMonitor, BSSA president, Kgaotsang Mathews. said during COVID-19 pandemic, CANA Zone IV championships were not held for two years, and virtual championships were introduced following that. She said since everything is back to normal, it is now difficult to fit the championships into the schedule. “We had it in our schedule and we could be hosting that gala now. When it was cancelled, we decided to introduce the long distance gala so that swimmers have more events in long distance. When the announcement was made, there were some clubs who did not appreciate this, especially those who concentrate more on the sprints.
Last time, some did not appreciate that we had a sprints gala. We want our swimmers to meet the standards and this weekend many Personal Bests (PBs) were registered, which is a huge achievement,” she said.
Mathews also said the BSSA has a strategy, which they are implementing. Through the strategy, they tick what they have achieved such as looking for sponsorship and the review of the constitution. She said the constitution review is a requirement by the World Aquatics and the Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC). Mathews also added that the BSSA technical commission failed to submit the technical report as it was resolved at the 2023 Annual General Meeting (AGM).
Meanwhile, the BSSA recently hosted a World Aquatics clinic for coaches in Gaborone conducted by Cedric Finch. Mathews said they had requested for coaches to be trained as a way of up-skilling coaches. “We sent a request to Africa Aquatics that we needed our coaches to be trained. Actually this was part two of the training as the first training was through a webinar. Finch was brought here by Africa Aquatics through the World Aquatics. He is a qualified coach and has Olympic winners on his side.
He is based in Stellenbosch,” she said. Medals: Combined men and women: DMSS Gators: 72 gold, 56 silver and 44 bronze; Propellers: 39 gold, 23 silver and 12 bronze; Gaborone Aquatics: 30 gold, 29 silver and 22 bronze; BDF Dolphins: 2 gold, four silver and 12 bronze medals; Kubu: one gold, one silver and two bronze; UB: one gold, one silver and zero bronze; The Learning Centre: one silver medal and Stingrays: two bronze medals.
