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Tadious Manyepo Sports Reporter
SWIMMER Robyn Lee on Wednesday delivered Zimbabwe’s first medal at the  African Games in Morocco when she won bronze in the women’s 200m backstroke.

The 20-year-old hit home an impressive time of 2:22.50 to finish behind South Africa’s Samantha Randle and Felicity Passon of the Seychelles.

Zimbabwean athletes have struggled to hit top form since the start of the Games on August 16.

But Lee, who participated at the 2014 Youths Olympics and the 2017 World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, eased the pressure with a solid showing at the Mohammed V Sports Complex in Casablanca.

She is billed to participate in the 100m backstroke and other races in the competition which ends tomorrow.

The African Games run up to August 31 and athletes from other codes will be expected to add medals to the country’s tally.

Though Lee couldn’t match Passon and Randle, the trio failed to even come anywhere closer to legendary Zimbabwean swimmer Kirsty Coventry’s record in the race.

Coventry, who is now the country’s Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation Minister, set the 200m backstroke African Games record of 2:10.66 in July 2007 in Algeria.

She remains the record holder of both the 50m and 100m backstroke events.

Coventry was home in 28.89 in the 50m backstroke in Algeria in 2007 and clocked 1:00.66 in the 100m backstroke in Mozambique in the 2011 edition of the Games.