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FAMILY AFFAIR . . . Mashonaland top swimmers James and Natasha Lawson had a good show at the Senior National Swimming Championships which ended at Les Brown pool on Monday

Ellina Mhlanga Sports Reporter
MASHONALAND team manager Karen Dingiswayo has hailed her side after they successfully defended their title in the Senior National Swimming Championships which ended at Les Brown on Monday. The five-day event, which started on Thursday, ended on Monday with Mashonaland on top of the table after amassing 3 252 points.

The hosts also scooped the aggregate trophy as they produced most of the top swimmers with James Lawson finishing first on the individual rankings with 152 points.

Liam Davis was second with 126 points in the boys’ section.
Natasha Lawson topped the girls section with 107 points, with Ratidzo Mutangadura in second place on 100 points.
Dingiswayo was impressed with the team’s performance as she said they have managed to stay on top of the game again this year.

“We are very happy, we got first position out of all the provinces. Our swimmers came tops in most of the races so, generally, we are very happy,” said Dingiswayo.

“I think we have managed to stay at the top of our game. There is definitely improvement, a lot of our kids got top aggregate, like the top swimmer in the age group this year.

“So, yes, we stayed on top of the game.”
Mashonaland had the most swimmers with a team of 96 followed by Matabeleland who had 45 swimmers.
Dingiswayo said the numbers did not give them any advantage against the other provinces.

“We had the biggest number of swimmers this year, but when you look at finals you only get eight kids in the final,” said Dingiswayo.
“So, yes, we might have a big pool to pull from but we don’t really get any advantage in terms of the finalists because only eight kids can make the final so anyone from any province have a fair chance.”

Matabeleland were second with 1 481 points with swimmers such as Andy Cyprianos picking eight medals, including four gold for his team, in the men 17 and over age group.

Cyprianos said the competition has been a good platform to asses himself ahead of the Level Three meet in South Africa next month.
“It’s still competitive but just not as much as last year because Mashonaland have lost some of their senior swimmers.

“I have got my time, I am going for the Level Three in Cape Town and it helped to show me where I am and my current fitness,” said Cyprianos.

Mashonaland Country District came third with 339 points followed by Midlands who managed 137 points.
Manicaland had 60 points to finish fifth while on sixth place were Zim Swim Disabled who had 43 points.
Masvingo were bottom of the table with 13 points.

Zimbabwe Aquatic Union president Mary Kloppers said they were happy with the competition they witnessed during the five-day meet but could not confirm if there were any national records broken.