The Bank Windhoek Namibia Aquatic Sports Federation’s (NASFED) third Long Course Gala set new swimming records.
Over 200 athletes competed in 41 swimming events held over the past weekend.
The Gala was hosted simultaneously in three towns: at Olympia Swimming Pool in Windhoek, The Water Cube Swimming Pool in Swakopmund and Sand Sharks Swimming Pool in Oranjemund from Friday 24 January to Saturday 25 January.
Luke Beukes from Aqua Swimming and Fitness Club set a record for the 15 to 16 Men’s 50 Butterfly category with a time of 25.6 seconds.
“It feels amazing to set a record. It has always been a dream of mine since I began swimming about four years ago. Another goal of mine is to qualify for the Olympics in 2028,” he said.
Oliver Durand from Dolphins Swimming Club set a record for the 17 to 18 Men’s 50 Butterfly category with a time of 25.5 seconds.
“This is great. I was not expecting to break any records this weekend because I took this event as a preparation gala for the Nationals and other competitions in South Africa,” he said.
Bank Windhoek’s head of stakeholder engagement, corporate social responsibility and sponsorships Bronwyn Moody said the performance of swimmers over the weekend was impressive in all three towns. “We are excited to see them qualify for the Namibian National team and how they perform in the Levels 2 and 3 Swimming Competitions, including the South Africa Junior Swimming Championships and South African Senior Swimming Championships,” she said.
New individual and team relay records were set over the weekend in various events.
In the Women’s 45 and Over 100 Backstroke, Lucy Louw from Swakopmund Swimming Club set a record with a time of 1:23.01.
Luke Beukes from Aqua Swimming and Fitness Club broke the men’s 15 to16 50 Butterfly record with a time of 25.66 seconds.
In the men’s 17 to 18 50 Butterfly, Oliver Durand from Dolphins Swimming Club claimed the top spot with a time of 25.51 seconds.
Additionally, the Dolphins Swimming Club team of Aiden Diehl, Oelof Badenhorst, Patrick Durand and Julian Erni set a new record in the Men’s 11 to 12 400 Medley Relay with a time of 5:30.69.