Africa-Press – Namibia. A Namibian Swimming Federation (Nasfed) team excelled at the Angolan 50th independence celebration swimming competition in Luanda over the weekend.
The Namibian team competed against 10 other teams, including invitational teams from southern African nations like Angola, South Africa, Mozambique, and Zambia, as well as teams from Portugal and Cape Verde, plus local Angolan club sides.
Although the Angolan national team finished with the most medals overall, Namibia emerged as the overall winner of the competition, securing the most gold medals. Namibia won 22 gold, 10 silver, and five bronze medals, while Angola secured 18 gold, 17 silver, and 30 bronze medals. South Africa followed with nine gold, seven silver, and one bronze medal.
They were trailed by Clube de Luanda with six gold, 11 silver, and six bronze medals, Portugal with four gold, six silver, and one bronze, Mozambique with two gold, four silver, and eight bronze medals, and Zambia with one gold, three silver, and three bronze medals.
Namibia also won the best team award, as well as the best female team award, with three of their swimmers placing in the top three individual female rankings.
Nasfed president Riaan Steyn lauded the team’s performance but cautioned against over-hyping the athletes’ achievements, emphasising the need for perspective on the level of competition.
“From a federation point of view, we are extremely proud of the swimmers that took part in this invitational competition. We do not take part half-heartedly in any competition nor do we send athletes who are not able to perform,” he stated.
“However, we need to gain some perspective on the level of the competition and, as a precaution, warn against over-hyping our athletes’ performances, as this can be detrimental to them. Also, it must be noted that this was a Nasfed team and not a national team,” he added.
Ainoa Naukosho (14) emerged as the top female swimmer, securing seven gold medals and one silver. Victoria de Sousa (14) claimed second place with six gold and five silver medals, while Jessica Humphrey (17) finished third with six gold medals.
Naukosho excelled in the 50m freestyle, finishing with a time of 28.91 seconds; she also won gold in the 100m freestyle (1:02.44), 50m backstroke (32.59), 100m backstroke (1:10.42), 50m butterfly (30.47), 100m butterfly (1:08.33), and the 200m butterfly (2:37.67), along with silver in the 400m medley (5:32.97).
De Sousa won gold medals in the 200m freestyle (2:17.09), 400m freestyle (4:55.21), 100m breaststroke (1:24.59), 200m breaststroke (2:56.85), 200m medley (2:33.71), and 400m medley (5:22.08), while also securing silver in the 50m freestyle (29.29), 100m freestyle (1:04.05), 50m breaststroke (38.03), 50m butterfly (31.39), and 100m butterfly (1:13.50).
Humphrey won gold medals in the 50m freestyle (27.28), 100m freestyle (59.79), 50m backstroke (30.11), 100m backstroke (1:04.06), 200m backstroke (2:20.76) and 50m butterfly (28.94).
The best male swimmer from the Angolan team was Santiago Guimaraes, who won six gold medals. He was followed by South Africans Matthew Caldwell, who earned four gold and two silver medals, and Jarden Eaton with four gold and one silver medal.
Jose Canjulo was Namibia’s best male swimmer, finishing sixth overall with two gold, one silver, and two bronze medals. The 19-year-old won gold medals in the 50m breaststroke (29.46) and 100m breaststroke (1:06.08), along with silver in the 200m medley (2:12.62) and bronze in the 100m freestyle (54.22) and 50m backstroke (27.95).
Lorenzo Esterhuizen (16) placed 13th overall among men, securing silver in the 200m butterfly (2:11.54) and 400m medley (4:46.35), and bronze in the 100m backstroke (1:01.02), 200m backstroke (2:12.50), and 200m medley (2:15.58).
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