Dar club swimmers smash 18 records

Dar es Salaam. Taliss-IST swimmers smashed 18 records in the just concluded Taliss Championship at the International School of Tanganyika (IST).

The tournament featured 249 swimmers from nine clubs from Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar.

It was sanctioned by Tanzania Swimming Association (TSA).

Up-and-coming swimmer Ben Mango (8) was among youngsters who stole the show during the thrilling event.

Mango smashed four records in the boys’ category.

The gifted swimmer set a new record in the 50m butterfly after clocking 42.65 to erase the previous record of 48.44.

He also set a new record in the boys’ backstroke style after clocking 44.27, shattering the previous time of 45.36.

In the 100m individual medley, Mango clocked 1.36.85 to shatter the previous record of 1.43.46, before setting a new record in 50m butterfly.

The other Taliss-IST Club swimmers who set new records during the event include the 12-year-old Sydney Hardeman, who shattered four records.

Also on the list with the record they smashed in bracket are Sam Hardeman (four), Terry Tarimo (three), Aravind Raghavendran (two) and Joshua Van Schalkwyk (one).

Natalia Ladha of Bluefins also gave the club’s fans something to smile about as the fast-rising swimmer smashed four records.

Aaron Akwenda, Aminaz Kachra and Zainab Moosajee shattered a record each for Bluefins.

Mwanza’s Judah Miller smashed 11 records in the event, which was sponsored by Jubilee Insurance and Nissan.

Caleb O’Sullivan and Anna Guild – the other Mwanza swimmers in the championship – shattered three and one records respectively.

William Sanford of FK Blue Marlins Swimming Club also performed impressively in the annual event.

He shattered tree records.

Taliss-IST manager Hadija Shebe hailed her swimmers, saying they put up a spirited fight.

She said swimmers who smashed records in the championship have the potential to excel in the sport.

the //enya will host the men’s and women’s 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) North East region qualifiers in May, it has been revealed.

The qualifiers will take place at the Sikh Union Hockey Stadium in Nairobi from May 11-17, according to Africa Hockey Federation (AHF).

The North East region consists of eight countries, namely Kenya, Egypt, Burundi, Libya, Seychelles, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.

Teams that will compete in the qualifiers have been put in three zones.

Kenya men’s team will battle Tanzania, Burundi, Libya, Sudan, Uganda and Seychelles where the top two nations will proceed to the next year’s Afcon finals.

The ladies will face favourites Egypt, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi, Libya, Seychelles and Sudan for the two slots.

Kenya Hockey Union deputy match and fixture secretary, Moses Majiwa, said yesterday that it was an honour for the country to host the tournament.

“The new development by the Africa Hockey Federation to have nations participate within their regions is good for the sport’s development,” he said.

He added: “Kenya has in the recent times performed poorly in the Cup of Nations due to poor preparations.

“We are, therefore, reaching out to the government to support these teams to have proper preparations, including playing international friendly matches ahead of the event.”

Both the men and women’s teams finished last during the 2019 Nations Cup that was held in Egypt. Egypt won the men’s version while South Africa won the ladies title.

North-West region has Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Togo while Botswana, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe form the Central–South region.

The top two teams in each categories from the three regions will then join the top two ranked countries to compete in the Africa Cup of Nations.

The overall winner will book a ticket to the 2022/23 World Cup while the runners up will participate in the World Cup qualifier.