Africa-Press – Angola. The lack of swimming pools adapted for athletes with disabilities is the main reason for the absence of competitions in the southern region, said the president of the African Confederation of Zone IV, Jace Naido.
Speaking on the sidelines of the African Championship in the area, which ended Sunday, in Luanda, he explained that, with the exception of South Africa, the remaining countries have almost no adequate infrastructure for special practitioners.
Jace Naido said that, in addition to the swimming pool for carrying out events in this category, it is important to adapt the changing rooms and all the accesses according to the different disabilities, to facilitate locomotion without constraints.
He mentioned that his team has encouraged member countries to create appropriate venues to allow for greater development.
The high financial costs have also made it difficult for this class of athletes to participate in international competitions, according to the interviewee.
He explained that, in addition to taking care of athletes, the organization of Paralympic events requires trained support staff, adding to this the need to have technicians, officials and medical-sports classifiers.
For him, such issues weigh heavily on the budget of the organizing countries, mainly due to the difficulty of attracting sponsors.
In Angola, Paralympic swimming was reactivated in 2019, after inactivity since 2011.
The country has already produced champions in this specialty since the constitution of the Angola Paralympic Committee in 1994.
The feat took place in 1999 during the African Games in South Africa, with Irene Bandeira winning two gold medals and Angola Aguiar two gold and one bronze.
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