Tanzania swimmers ready for World Championships

Tanzania national swimming team head coach Alexander Mwaipasi (right) poses with swimmers (from left) Collins Saliboko, Sophia Latiff and Ria Save before the team left for Australia ahead of the World Swimming Championships scheduled to start tomorrow in Melbourne. Photo | courtesy

What you need to know:

  • The swimmers, who are under head coach Alexander Mwaipasi, have already arrived in Melbourne ready for the event

Dar es Salaam. Four Tanzania swimmers are ready to compete in the 16th edition of the World Swimming Championships scheduled to take place in Melbourne, Australia, from tomorrow. The swimmers are Hilal Hilal and Collins Saliboko, who will compete in the men’s category, while entrants in the women’s category are Sophia Latiff and Ria Save.

The swimmers, who are under head coach Alexander Mwaipasi, have already arrived in Melbourne ready for the event. According to the event’s schedule, Hilal will compete in two events, namely the 50 metres freestyle and 50 metres breaststroke, while Saliboko’s events are the 100 metres freestyle and 100 metres butterfly.

In women’s events, Latiff will compete in the 50 metres freestyle and 100 metres freestyle, while Save will feature in the 50 metres backstroke as well as 50 metres breaststroke.

The swimmers will also feature in two relays. They are the 4x50m mixed medley relay and the 4x50m mixed freestyle relay. “The swimmers have been in training before and after the end of the African Zone Three swimming championships. We are optimistic they will do their best in the event despite the fact that they will face strong challenges from other swimmers,” said Tanzania Swimming Association (TSA) vice chairperson, Asmah Hilal, who has been accompanied the swimmers to the event.

The event will be the first time that Melbourne will be hosting the prestigious 25-metre event, with the state-of-the-art Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre as the host site. The event will feature more than 1,000 swimmers from over 180 countries.

“FINA is delighted that the proud swimming nation of Australia will host the FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) for the first time,” said FINA President Husain Al-Musallam.

“Australia has a great swimming tradition and we’re looking forward to coming back to Melbourne. I am sure this will be another highly successful FINA event that provides the world’s best short course swimmers with the environment to perform at their very best,” he said.