24 Feb 2020

Botswana was crowned silver medalists for the just ended CANA Zone IV championships held at the University of Botswana. 

   Botswana finished in third place out of 14 countries that competed in the championships, winning 42 medals, 11 gold, 19 silver and 11 bronze medals. 

Zimbabwe was crowned the champions seconded by Namibia.

Zimbabwe accumulated 2 922. 5 points while Namibia in second had 2 343. 5 while Botswana scored 2 189. 4 and South Africa in fourth place with 1 538 points.

James Freeman contributed significantly to Botswana’s success, scooping six gold medals followed by Andile Bekker and Junior Keitsile with three and two gold medals respectively.

Botswana coach, Samantha Gibson said she was happy with the team’s performance as they had surpassed their set target.

The swimmers, she said, outdid themselves, adding that their goal was to do better than the last CANA. 

She noted that a lot of local swimmers even clocked Personal Best (PB) times, adding that it was a good achievement for the country. 

 “That alone means we are on the right track as Botswana, and we bagged a number of medals exceeding expectation,” she said.

She further expressed delight over the opportunity afforded younger swimmers, adding that they would embed the lessons learnt from the competition.

Gibson said although a lot of them were debutants, they managed to win medals, a feat worth celebrating. 

Freeman said he was a little bit rusty with the first events and competed in other races which were not his events.

“The events came one after the other and it was very hot. 

You get tired very quickly, but despite that I surprised myself in the last two days because sometimes on the first day you swim with excitement because you are excited to get into the gala,” he said.

Freeman said he was happy how he ended the competition, adding that overall he was off the times that he was hoping for.

“But my main aim for this competition was to score points for my country, and I think I have maximised the points. On that note, I am really happy,” he said.

Bekker,  who also expressed happiness, said the competition went well for him, adding that it was his best CANA as he won a couple of medals.

“I managed to clock some PB’s and I am really proud of myself and the team. We were really fighting together, and I hope we will carry that throughout the year and continue to see some good times from us,” he said.

He said he would now be preparing for the South African competition, adding that expectations were that he would clock good times.

Keitsile said he did well during the competitions, adding that his highlight was setting a new record in the men 12 and under 50 metres butterfly, as he clocked 28.98, shattering the old record of 30.04.

“The first day I did not do much as I was doing relays, and I think my team did very well in the relay,” he said. 

ends