WINDHOEK – The Dolphins Swimming Club maintained its unbeaten record to win the Bank Windhoek Namibian National Swimming Championship, which ended on Sunday at the Olympia swimming pool in Windhoek.
The club notched up an impressive 3 649 points with its 74 swimmers as it boasted some dominant individual and relay performances. The Namib Swimming Academy with 42 swimmers came in second place, while Oranjemund Swimming Club with 32 swimmers finished third.
Upcoming swimmer, Ronan Wantenaar, of Namib broke his own national 11-12 year-old age group’s 50m backstroke record of 34.32 with a new time of 33.93, on the third day of the championship.
Ronan, who is also the junior victor laudorum with 152 points, won nine gold, three silver and three bronze. The runner-up was Ricardo Richter of Dolphins with 133 points and Dewald Nell of Namib in third place with 114 points.
Zune Weber (Namib), the junior victrix laudorum, had some tough swims against equally excellent competitors, but nevertheless claimed ten gold and three silver medals, after earning 119 points. The closely contested second place went to Heleni Stergiadis of Dolphins with 102 points, while club mate Nastasha Rau took third place with 100 points.
Dolphins’ 11-12 year old age group relay team consisting of Johann Serfontein, Rene Viljoen, Corne le Roux and Martin Oosthuizen broke the national men’s 11-12 medley relay record of 2:29.97 with a time of 2:27.79.
Quinton Delie of Dolphins was crowned the senior victor laudorum with 3 663 FINA points, while Nic Deacon, also of Dolphins came in second place with 3 390 FINA points and Christiaan Lamprecht (Namib) finished third with 3317 FINA points.
The senior victrix laudorum was awarded to Daniela Lindemeier (Namib) with 3717 FINA points, followed by Godiva Beukes (Dolphins) with 3153 FINA points and Kiah Borg (Namib) with 3017 points in third place. Daniela Lindemeier was also selected as the swimmer with the best performance for her swim in the 100m breaststroke with a time of 1:12.25, which earned her 709 FINA points.
The 50m freestyle races are always one of the highlights of this event, and this year was no different. In a very exciting race, Vernon Steenkamp of Dolphins came in first place, with a time of 25.42, beating club mate Nic Deacon, with a time of 25.49. The pair was closely followed by Christiaan Lamprecht of Namib in third place with his time of 25.69.
The ladies race was also closely contested, with the 12-year-old Zune Weber of Namib giving the 15-year-old winner, Kiah Borg, also of Namib a good run for her money. Kiah won in a time of 28.95, followed by Zune in second place with a time of 29.07 and the 17-year-old Godiva Beukes of Dolphins finishing third with 29.10.
Shanay Viljoen and Oliver Doepke, both from Dolphins, came out on top in the 8 and under age groups for girls and boys. In the 9-10 year-old age group, Krynauw Weber (Namib) and Tiana Esslinger of Dolphins were the top swimmers. Stiff competition was offered in the 11-12 year-old age group where Ronan Wantenaar and Zune Weber of Namib came out on top. Rene Viljoen (Dolphins) and Barend Lofty-Eaton (Dolphins) swam exceptionally well in the 11-12 year-old age group, while Heleni Stergiadis (Dolphins) and Carissa Esslinger (Dolphins) showed that they are future champions to be reckoned with.
“Despite the cold water, the swimmers had some outstanding swims and gave a 100 percent effort, in order to improve on their personal best times. Swimmers who qualified are now looking forward to the South African Level 1, 2 and 3 galas which will take place in March and April next year. NASU (Namibia Swimming Union) and the swimming community would like to thank Bank Windhoek for their generous sponsorship of this event,” said Rentia Meyer, press officer of NASU.
The next Bank Windhoek long course gala will be held at the Olympia swimming pool on January 31 2014.
By Staff Reporter