Country to Send 39 Swimmers to Malawi Gala

ZIMBABWE will this year send 39 swimmers to the fifth African Swimming Confederation Zone 4 invitational short course gala in Lilongwe, Malawi, from January 3-5.

Formerly known as the Sub Saharan Championships this gala has attracted about 200 swimmers from 10 African countries, including South Africa, Uganda, Namibia, Swaziland, Botswana, Mozambique, Kenya and hosts Malawi.

The Zimbabwe team, managed by Glenda Heard and coached by Sue Bradshaw and Fiona Rosser, is expected to leave for Lilongwe tomorrow.

At least 20 members of this team are expected to bring home medals, but five names stand out as the potential stars who should have gold in their sights --17 year-old Nick James, James Lawson (12), Federico Bescotti (10), Samantha Welch (12) and Tarryn Rennie (12).

But expectations are high that James Lawson of Pirates Club will have a medal haul after his exploits on the domestic scene.

Lawson is scheduled to swim in a marathon 12 individual events in the 12-and-under group over the three days, but he is a classy and super-fit competitor who has cracked several Zimbabwe records this year and holds all the breaststroke marks (50m in 35.76sec; 100m in 1min 19.16sec; 200m in 2min 48.40sec).

He will also strive for Gold in the 200 metres individual medley where he has clocked 2min 36.94sec.

Nick James also of Pirates and who will compete in the 17-and-over group is another with immense talent, especially in the 100 metres backstroke where he has come close to cracking the magic minute.

He is set to swim nine events and could notch a rich haul of medals for Zimbabwe.

It will also be interesting to note the talents of the two 12-year-old Spartans swimmers, Sam Welch and powerful sprinter Tarryn Rennie, when they are pitted against the likes of the South Africans.

Both are red-hot prospects to blossom into real talents in the future. At just 12 Tarryn has scorched to a 27.87sec 50 metres short-course freestyle, while "Super Sam" has 1min 21.40sec for the 100 metres breaststroke and 2min 53.47sec for the 200 metres breaststroke.

At 10-years-old Federico "Chicco" Bescotti is one of the youngest in the team, but he has displayed a significant style and talent in the backstroke and is a real hope for Gold in these events.

Also in the team is one of Zimbabwe's elite swimmers, Maxine Heard (16), who now trains at the High Performance Centre in South Africa.

Ordinarily Maxine, a member of the Zimbabwe team at the All-Africa Games in Algeria would carry major hopes of many medals, but she has had a lay-off after a back injury and is not yet back to her peak.

However, at this level her class and competitiveness should carry her through to outstanding achievements in her 11 events.

Others who could also come to the fore, are Amy Bond (13) in the 50 metres breaststroke, Bree Caterall (10) in the 50 metres butterfly, Kerry Hutchings (15), in the 50 metres butterfly, Bronwyn Palmer (17), Shannon Taute (13), Roxanne Viviers (14), Charlotte Wetzlar (16), Alexander Derry (18, who reaped nine Golds at the recent Mashonaland championships), Tim Desmond (17), Jason Dickinson (15), Levi Fargnoli (10, of Matabeleland), Sean Gunn (14), Drew Rosser (14), Tatenda Zinyemba (14) and Jamie Schultz (15, who swam in South Africa's Prestige championships this year).