Africa-Press – Namibia. RONAN Wantenaar and Jessica Humphrey of Aqua Swimming and Fitness Academy were the outstanding senior swimmers at the Bank Windhoek Long Course National Championships which took place at the Olympia Pool in Windhoek over the weekend.
The 21-year-old Wantenaar won the senior victor ludorum trophy after breaking one record and producing the top four performances in terms of international Fina points, while Humphrey, who is still only 13 years old, won the senior victrix ludorum trophy for her all round performances in various events.
The 12-year-old Lorenzo Esterhuizen of Aqua won the junior victor ludorum trophy, while he also broke three national age group records, and the 14-year-old Reza Westerduin of Aqua won the junior victrix ludorum trophy.
A total of 14 records were broken at the championships which saw close to 200 swimmers in action, representing seven clubs from Windhoek, Swakopmund and Oranjemund.
Esterhuizen broke three records in the boys 11-12 year category. He took more than a second off his own 100m backstroke record of 1:10,21 with a new time of 1:08,79; while he set a new 200m backstroke record of 2:25,69.
He also broke his own 50m backstroke record of 32,19 seconds with a new time of 31,67. The 38-year-old Dentie Louw of Swakopmund broke three records in the men’s 25-44 year old category.
His time of 2:30,12 in the 200m freestyle beat his own former mark of 2:30,97, while he also broke his own record of 5:36,00 in the 400m freestyle with a new time of 5:28,69.
Louw also set a new record of 22:20,28 in the 1 500m freestyle, which was more than 40 seconds faster than the previous record of 23:01,63, which was established by Jan Louis Mostert in 2020. Another Swakopmund swimmer, Morne Honiball, established two records in the men’s 25-44 year-old category.
He set a new record of 1:17,98 in the 100m backstroke, to break Louw’s former record of 1:18,12 that was set two years ago, while he set a record of 34,30 seconds in the 50m backstroke which also broke Louw’s former record of 34,63 which was set in 2020.
The 30-year-old Quinton Delie of Marlins Swimming Academy also set a new record in the men’s 25-44 year old category with a time of 35,21 seconds in the 50m breaststroke, which broke Jurie Badenhorst’s former record of 36,78 seconds.
Ulrike Leitner set a new record of 3:33,45 in the women’s 45 and over 200m backstroke event to break her own record of 3:34,65 that she set last year. Wantenaar broke the men’s 17 and over 50m butterfly record of 25,98 seconds which was established by Lushano Lamprecht seven years ago, with a new time of 25,89 seconds.
Three new relay records were also established. In the Open Men’s 400m medley relay, the Aqua team of Wantenaar, Jose Canjulo, Brave Magongo and Noah Nell set a new record of 4:09,73, which broke the long standing record of 4:12,53 which was set at the 1995 All Africa Games.
The second-placed Dolphins team of Arkell Wellmann, Oliver Durand, Mikah Burger and Oliver Ohm, also broke the old record with a time of 4:10,86. In the Boys 11-12 200m medley relay, the Dolphins team of Ryan Steyn, Jiao Naan, James Langford and Ernst Jansen set a new record of 2:21,98, which broke the former mark of 2:23,24, which was established four years ago.
Wantenaar produced the four best performances in terms of Fina points among the male swimmers. He received 672 points for his time of 27,39 in the 50m backstroke; 667 points for his time of 29,70 seconds in the 50m breaststroke; 667 points for his time of 1:05,08 in the 100m breaststroke; and 632 points for his time of 25,95 in the 50m butterfly.
Trisha Mutumbulua produced the two best female performances in terms of Fina points. She received 595 pointds for her time of 1:01,47 in the 100m freestyle and 594 points for her time of 28,15 seconds in the 50m freestyle.
Humphrey produced the next best female performances, receiving 565 Fina points for her time of 1:09,61 in the 100m backstroke, and 560 points for her time of 32,73 seconds in the 50m backstroke. The president of the Namibia Swimming Federation, Eileen Botha said the national championships were a big success.
“We had a record turn out with clubs from Swakopmund and Oranjemund and the Windhoek clubs as well so we are very proud that we could have suck a big turnout, especially after the pandemic,” she said.
“The performances were very good, we had a number of records, so we are very happy. I spoke to all the coaches and they are very proud with how their swimmers have been performing, after so many difficulties last year,” she added.
The national championships served as a qualifying event for several upcoming competitions in South Africa, including the Level 2 championships and the junior and senior SA Championships.
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