The fourth Bank Windhoek Long Course Gala took place simultaneously over the weekend in Windhoek, Swakopmund and Oranjemund.
A total of 184 swimmers participated comprising Aqua Swimming and Fitness Club (31), Dolphins Swimming Club (95), Namib Swim Academy (5), Marlins (7), Oranjemund Sand Sharks (28) and Swakopmund Swimming Club (18).
“The Namibia Swimming Union (NASU) would like to extend its appreciation to Bank Windhoek for making this event possible. With Bank Windhoek’s support, we are certain that this will be a successful year for NASU,” said NASU’s Spokesperson, Jurie Badenhorst.
With this being the first long course gala for this calendar year, swimmers lacked pace, but twelve-year-old José Canjulo from Dolphins Swimming Club was on top of his game. He broke his own Namibian record in the Boys 11-12 years 200 metre Backstroke in a time of 2:41.01 seconds, an improvement over his previous time of 2:41.06 seconds.
“I have been patiently waiting for the fourth Bank Windhoek Long Course Gala to break my own Namibian record. My arms were burning but I pushed through. I am training very hard – 10 to 12 hours a week. I usually train with the senior group, and this has helped me very well,” said Canjulo.
Canjulo was selected by NASU’s Swimming Selection Committee, as part of the team to represent Namibia at the 2018 CANA Zone IV Championships in Lilongwe, Malawi.
He has also qualified to take part in the South African Junior Swimming Championships which will take place from Wednesday 21 to Sunday to 25 March 2018 in Durban, South Africa.
In other results, Ronan Wantenaar secured the highest International Swimming Federation (Fina) ranking by points, with 567 points in the Boys 15-16 years 50 metre Backstroke with a time of 29.04, followed by Viktoria Ellmies with 547 points for the Girls 13-14 years 200 metre Freestyle with a time of 2:18.12. Heleni Stergiadis is in third spot with 541 points in the Girls 15-16 years 100 metre Backstroke with a time of 1:11.29.
The next event on the swimming calendar is the Bank Windhoek National Championships, scheduled to take place on Thursday, 22 to Sunday, 25 February 2018 in Windhoek.