Nasfed concludes long-course season
Iréne-Mari van der Walt
The Namibia Swimming Federation (Nasfed) held its last swimming gala of the year over the weekend in hopes of readying swimmers for a bustling 2022 swimming season.
Despite a slow start to the year, vice-president Jurie Badenhorst believes the swimmers will quickly shed their festive fog. With the athletes taking part in the fourth and final Nasfed long-course gala, Badenhorst said coming back from a December holiday, fitness was an issue.
He, however, expressed his delight at the turnout.
“We had about 80 swimmers participating, which is good for this time of the year with schools that just started and all the school sports kicking off as well. Hopefully later this year we will send some swimmers to the Commonwealth Games and the World Championships,” he said.
Badenhorst said swimming as a sport in Namibia will enjoy a busy programme this year.
“After our long-course season, the swimmers will have a break before we go into our short-course season. They will go on some international tours then we will kick off our short-course season,” he said.
The contributions of Xander Skinner and Ronan Wantenaar on the international stage are especially noteworthy to the vice-president, who said: “All in all, I think swimming and aquatics in Namibia are doing very well”.
Happy
The last long course gala served as a platform for evaluation more than for competition.
“This is more of a fact-finding exercise for coaches to evaluate the levels of their swimmers and where they are and in preparation for the long-course nationals at the end of February,” he added.
Dolphins Swimming Club coach Janis Stergiadis said his athletes have been dedicated to their sport despite the long summer holiday.
“Most of our swimmers have been swimming throughout the December holidays so they are now getting back to where they were before.
“We are preparing for the junior national championships and also for the level galas; it will be very important for us. We have started comparing their times and we are very happy with where they are now,” he added.
The Namibia Swimming Federation (Nasfed) held its last swimming gala of the year over the weekend in hopes of readying swimmers for a bustling 2022 swimming season.
Despite a slow start to the year, vice-president Jurie Badenhorst believes the swimmers will quickly shed their festive fog. With the athletes taking part in the fourth and final Nasfed long-course gala, Badenhorst said coming back from a December holiday, fitness was an issue.
He, however, expressed his delight at the turnout.
“We had about 80 swimmers participating, which is good for this time of the year with schools that just started and all the school sports kicking off as well. Hopefully later this year we will send some swimmers to the Commonwealth Games and the World Championships,” he said.
Badenhorst said swimming as a sport in Namibia will enjoy a busy programme this year.
“After our long-course season, the swimmers will have a break before we go into our short-course season. They will go on some international tours then we will kick off our short-course season,” he said.
The contributions of Xander Skinner and Ronan Wantenaar on the international stage are especially noteworthy to the vice-president, who said: “All in all, I think swimming and aquatics in Namibia are doing very well”.
Happy
The last long course gala served as a platform for evaluation more than for competition.
“This is more of a fact-finding exercise for coaches to evaluate the levels of their swimmers and where they are and in preparation for the long-course nationals at the end of February,” he added.
Dolphins Swimming Club coach Janis Stergiadis said his athletes have been dedicated to their sport despite the long summer holiday.
“Most of our swimmers have been swimming throughout the December holidays so they are now getting back to where they were before.
“We are preparing for the junior national championships and also for the level galas; it will be very important for us. We have started comparing their times and we are very happy with where they are now,” he added.
Comments
Namibian Sun
No comments have been left on this article