Africa-Press – Namibia. THE highlight on the local swimming calendar, the Bank Windhoek National Long Course Championships takes place at the Olympia municipal pool this weekend.
Close to 200 swimmers between the ages of six and 69 have entered the championships which start at 17h00 this afternoon and continue tomorrow through to Sunday.
Seven clubs will be participating and although Dolphins Swimming Club is once again expected to dominate, they can expect some tough competition from Aqua Swimming and Fitness Club, which has made great strides over the past few years.
The other competing clubs are Marlins Aquatic Club and Phoenix Swimming Academy from Windhoek; Flippers Swimming Academy and Swakopmund Swimming Club from Swakopmund; and Oranjemund Sand Sharks from Oranjemund.
Top Namibian swimmer, Ronan Wantenaar, who is on a Fina scholarship in Kazan, Russia, is still in Namibia, and is expected to compete and should be one of the main attractions.
After a difficult start to his tenure in Russia during which he was hampered by an injury, he recuperated and went on to produce some brilliant performances.
Competing at various international events in Russia, Europe and Africa, he broke two Namibian Open records – with times of 28,71 seconds in the 50m breaststroke and 1:03,11 in the 100m breaststroke, to add to numerous other national records that he has broken over the past few years.
Wantenaar is now undoubtedly Namibia’s most versatile swimmer, having established seven of the 17 Open records on the Namibia Swimming Union’s data base. Other top senior swimmers to look out for include Oliver Ohm, Mikah Burger and Arkell Wellmann, all of Dolphins.
Jose Canjulo, who is currently studying in South Africa, is also expected to compete and he, too, has been in great form over the past year, breaking five national records in the 15-16 age group category.
Some of the younger, upcoming swimmers to look out for include Lorenzo Esterhuizen of Aqua, who broke three national records in the 11-12 age group category over the past four months; Ryan Steyn of Dolphins, who broke the eight and under 50m backstroke record last month; and Oliver Durand of Dolphins, who broke the 13-14 year 1 500m freestyle record three months ago.
None of the female swimmers have broken any national records over the past year, but some exciting races can be expected between top medal contenders like Nicole Redecker, Trisha Mutumbulua, Tiana Esslinger, Maya Stange and Lisa Engelhard, all of Dolphins, amongst the seniors; and Reza Westerduin, Jessica Humphrey and Rose Matyayi of Aqua; Ariana Naukosho and Michaela Ohm of Dolphins; and Esmerelda Nel of Phoenix amongst the juniors.
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