08 Dec 2021

Botswana Swimming Sports Association (BSSA) will host National Swimming Championships at the University of Botswana today until Sunday.

This year’s swimming meet comes after a year break.

BSSA did not host the championships last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

BSSA spokesperson, Roseline Seleka, said she was happy that this year they would hold the championships, a principal event in their calendar.

She said the nationals attracted swimmers based outside the country as the event would be used as a yardstick to select the national team.Seleka said this was the second championships they hosted since the ban on sports was lifted, adding that recently they hosted the CANA Zone IV Virtual Age Group Swimming Championship.

She said clubs had been preparing their athletes for the championships, adding that swimmers and coaches always looked forward to the nationals.

The spokesperson said all training programmes throughout the year were always geared towards the nationals given that bragging rights were at stake.

From the BSSA side, other than preparations for the actual hosting of the event, she said they host league galas throughout the year to help swimmers and coaches gauge if their training systems were appropriate and yielding results.

Seleka said during the competition, clubs compete against each other, while preparations of swimmers for nationals was clubs responsibility.

The nationals, are open to all swimmers registered with BSSA and members of the clubs affiliated to the BSSA.

“Clubs don’t only compete for position one, but also competed for what is called the Spirit Trophy, which is awarded to the Club that displays the most team spirit.”

Meanwhile, Seleka said this year they did not extend the invite to other countries due to the COVID-19 pandemic. ENDS