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THE 14th CANA Senior & Junior Swimming Championships have come to a close in Accra, Ghana, where Zimbabwean swimmers coming up with some personal best times.

Liam O’Hara, Denilson Cyprianos and junior Tichatonga Makaya all attained some personal best times and made the finals.

Makaya set a new national record in the boys 15-years-old 50m butterfly, in a time of 29.92 seconds, which was previously held by Peter Wetzlar.

O’Hara’s first event was the 100m breaststroke which, unfortunately, did not go as planned. Cyprianos made the 200m freestyle finals, having swum in the heats with O’Hara, where he clocked a time of 1.59.58.

Cyprianos also made the 50m backstroke finals, finishing fourth, in a time of 27.04.

Both times were PBs.

Makaya swam a 2.07.14 in the boys 18 under 200m freestyle.

He also competed in the 50m backstroke finishing in a time of 31.52.

Day Two was a better day for O’Hara, who swam his way into the 50m breaststroke finals, where he finished sixth in a time of 29.81.

Makaya swam a personal best time of 1.00.28 in the junior 100m butterfly event.

Day Three was a good day for Zimbabwean athletes, as O’Hara swam a personal best time in his 100m freestyle event, touching the wall in a time of 55.73.

O’Hara also posted a 27.11 in the 50m butterfly.

Cyprianos made the 200m backstroke finals, where he ended finishing fifth, in a time of 57.78.

In the 50m freestyle event, Cyprianos finished in a time of 24.25.

Makaya competed in both the 100m freestyle and 50m butterfly events, and managed two personal best times.

His time of 26.92, in the 100m butterfly, is a New National Record.

O’Hara had the 200m breaststroke event on Day Four, while it was a rest day, for the other two swimmers.

Cyprianos was the only swimmer in action on Day Five, in the 100m backstroke, where he finished fifth in the final, in a time of 57.78.

Makaya then competed in the 50m freestyle (26.75) and O’Hara had a personal best in the same event, in a time of 26.48.

Danielle Kahuni and Onesimus Ngwenya are Zimbabwe’s Open Water Swimmers, who were due to compete, in the Open Water 5km event. Unfortunately, at the last-minute, the hosts changed the event to a 3km pool swim due to unsafe water conditions.

Kahuni completed her swim in a time of 45.19.9 and Ngwenya in a time of 41.38.5 minutes.

Overall, on the point side for the seniors, with two swimmers, Zimbabwe ended 11th, out of the 23 participating countries, and in the men’s competition, finished joined seventh.

Masi Takedza, the national for the CANA tour said the level was tough.

“The competition was tough, there are a lot of up-and-coming young swimmers, from the different African countries, but he was very proud of our swimmers, who did extremely well.

“Tich, our only junior, did very well, finishing on average in the top 11 places”.  — Swimzw.com.