Swimmers flagged off, exude confidence of hauling medals
Hilal Hemed Hilal of Tanzania (left) celebrates during the 2016 Rio Games in Brazil in August, 2016. Hilal captains a six-team side to the world championships planned for Windsor, Canada from December 6. PHOTO | FILE
What you need to know:
- The team, which comprises Hilal Hilal, Denis Mhini, Adil Bharmal, Joseph Sumari, Sonia Tumiotto and Catherine Mason, was flagged off yesterday by deputy minister for Information, Culture, Arts and Sports Anastasia Wambura.
Dar es Salaam. Tanzania will be represented by six swimmers at the 13th world championships slated for Windsor, Canada from December 6 to 11.
The team, which comprises Hilal Hilal, Denis Mhini, Adil Bharmal, Joseph Sumari, Sonia Tumiotto and Catherine Mason, was flagged off yesterday by deputy minister for Information, Culture, Arts and Sports Anastasia Wambura.
The young swimmers depart for Windsor today with most of them exuding confidence of springing some surprise at the world championships. This will be the first time for the country to be represented by more than three swimmers at the championship.
Tanzania fielded a three-member team at the 2013 edition in Barcelona. They were Ammar Ghadiyali, Hilal Hilal and Mariam Foum before being represented by Ghadiyali, Hilal and Magdalena Moshi at the 2015 event in Kazan, Russia.
Earlier, the Tanzania Swimming Association (TSA) had planned to send 11 swimmers to the Canada event, but due to what was described as unavoidable reasons, five athletes were omitted from the list.
The omitted swimmers are Sylvia Caroiao, Mariam Foum, Magdalena Moshi, Aliasghar Karimjee and Ammaar Ghadiyali.
Speaking during a brief flag presentation, the deputy minister challenged the youngsters to roll up their sleeves in Canada and make Tanzania proud by winning medals.
“This is your chance to show the world what you are capable of. I believe that you have trained well, so we all expect you to flex your muscles and win your country plaudits,” she said.
Team captain Hilal, who competed at the 2014 Rio Olympics and did fairly well, said they were prepared to fight for medals in Windsor.
“We are ready to go. Everyone is psyched up ahead of the event and I am confident that we will come back with medals,” said Hilal.
“Some of the team’s members still have fresh memories of winning medals galore at the Zone III tournament in Kigali recently, so I have good feeling that we are going to surprise the world swimming community.”
