TSA: We’ll use Cana zone 3 for Olympic Games preps

Dar es Salaam. Tanzania Swimming Association (TSA) has said it will use African Swimming Federation (Cana) Zone III ganes as part of preparations ahead of the youth Olympic Games scheduled for October next year in Benos Aires, Argentina.

Besides preparations for next year’s Olympic Games, TSA also said the event would be part of the team’s training ahead of the Cana Zone Four swimming championships scheduled to take place in Malawi.

TSA secretary general Ramadhani Namkoveka said the team coaches Alexander Mwaipasi and Michael Livingstone had already selected potential swimmers who were in the body’s development plans ahead of the international competitions. The championships will feature seven countries namely South Africa, Zambia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan and the hosts Tanzania.

Namkoveka expressed belief that the swimmers who were currently in training at the International School of Tanganyika (IST) Upanga swimming pool would get anple exposure in the events that will feature other six countries other than Tanzania.

“Swimmers are doing fine in their training at IST. We’ve had challenges in bringing together all selected swimmers due to school commitments. We have swimmers in Morogoro, Mwanza, Arusha, Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar who are training under school coaches,”

“Some swimmers are abroad who also train under school coaches, but we are optimistic that we’ll assemble all of them one week before the event,” said Namkoveka.

He said TSA had also strengthened the team’s technical benches after appointing Priscilla Zengeni and Jones Gouw as team managers. Tanzania will field two teams in the championships.

Meanwhile, Coca-Cola has announced it will support the event, which is scheduled to start from October 19 to 21 at the Heaven of Peace (Hopac).

Coca-Cola will join other sponsors Vodacom Tanzania to take care of the cost of the event’s trophies and medals, while Swissair will handle the cost of return air tickets for the national team swimmers who are currently studying in the United Kingdom (UK).

Other sponsors are JCDecaux (billboards), Label Promotions (billboards), Print Galore (printing of billboards and posters) and Slipway Hotel. TSA needs Sh66 million to stage the event successfully.

The body also expects to get U$10,000 from World Swimming Body Federation (Fina), which will support the preparations.

Meanwhile, 22 swimmers will today feature in a time trial competition scheduled to be held at the International School of Tanganyika (IST) Upanga swimming pool.

The competition will aim to gauge swimmers’ speed and other techniques ahead of the Cana Zone Three games, according to Coach Michael Livingstone. He said the competition will see the best swimmers categorized in team A while others will fall in team B.

In another development, Magdalena Moshi will not feature in the Cana Zone championships. TSA-Cana Zone Three committee chairperson Leena Kapadia clarified that the swimmer was out of the national team contrary to media reports on Thursday. Leena explained that the swimmers who were included in the team were those who featured in the national championshops.