EDITORIAL: Let current competition give tz best swimmers
What you need to know:
- The championships are the first to be staged by the new TSA leaders who were elected to their posts on August 26 at the Uhuru Stadium in the city.
Tanzania open swimming championships start today at the International School of Tanganyika (IST) at Upanga in Dar es Salaam. The event will feature swimmers from all Mainland Tanzania regions as well as Zanzibar, according to the Tanzania Swimming Association (TSA).
The championships are the first to be staged by the new TSA leaders who were elected to their posts on August 26 at the Uhuru Stadium in the city.
Swimmers aged from eight and above will compete in 121 disciplines in all swimming styles such as freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, individual medley and butterfly from 50 metres to 800 metres.
Currently, Tanzania is facing an uphill task of defending Africa’s swimming governing body (Cana) Zone Three championships title. The championships will be held in Khartoum, Sudan, in November. Tanzania won the title for two consecutive years, 2016 and last year.
It is an open secret that TSA is looking for competent swimmers ahead of the Sudan championships and the only competition that will help gauge the competence of the swimmers is this Upanga event.
One of the biggest challenges bedevilling the country in the swimming sport is infrastructure. If Tanzania is to do well and continue its winning spree in international competitions, then it must develop infrastructure, nurture and groom talent and always go for the best swimmers for the national team. Good coaches are also crucial.
It is high time that the TSA technical committee and national swimming coaches used the open championships to select the best swimmers as well as the pilot competition before travelling to Sudan one month from now.
