29 May 2023

The newly elected Botswana Swimming Sport Association (BSSA) president is ready to get the ball rolling immediately.

Kgaotsang Matthews, who takes over from Andrew Freeman, was elected president at the association’s annual general meeting on Saturday, beating former BSSA additional member, Gondo Gondo to the position.

Before election as president, Matthews was the association’s secretary general.

She was nominated by DMSS Gators and TLC swimming clubs, while Gondo was nominated by Stingrays, Propellers and University of Botswana swimming clubs to contest for the position.

In an interview after election, Matthews said she was happy to having been elected to lead the association for the next two years.

“I am ready to deliver on my mandate. First things first, I am looking forward to the work that has already began on the review of the BSSA constitution, which we anticipate to finalise in the next season as well as the association’s strategy,” she said.

She said the association found it imperative to review its constitution because it needed a lot of amendments for it to comply with some requirements by the Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC) and the World Aquatics.

Other new BSSA executive committee members elected on Saturday included Sidingulwazi Sibanda as vice president-technical, Puni Gaetsewe as secretary general, Kelebogile Molefe as vice secretary general as well as additional members in Gwendoline Harry and Valerie Ives.

Tallman Nkgau and Matshelo Radimo retained their previous positions as vice president-administration and treasurer respectively. Ends