Taliss-Ist hails resolve to integrate two clubs

Dar es Salaam. “Politics divides people, while sports bring them together.” This was the sentiment made by Taliss-Ist swimming club manager Hadija Shebe after meeting for the first time.

Shebe, who was under the mentorship of Jone Gouws, is now celebrating the move by Tanzania Life Saving Society (Taliss) swimming club and International School of Tanganyika (Ist) Upanga to unite and become one club.

The unification of the two clubs gave birth to Taliss-Ist, which is now celebrating the first silverware in the game after winning the Open Championships.

“Modern training is the key to our success in winning top honours in any sports tournament is not an easy task, ” these were the words of Taliss-Ist manager Hadija Shebe after her club was declared the winners of the Tanzania Open swimming championships.

Shebe, who succeeded Jone Gouws who was her mentor before leaving, said the club was now enjoying the fruits of investing in technical staff and managed to establish their national status by winning the open swimming championships in both girls’ and boys’ categories.

She said that apart from collecting 2,700 points to beat other seven clubs, Taliss-Ist swimmers managed to win a total of 109 medals in the championships. Among them, 56 are gold medals, 36 silvers and 23 bronze.

“Our 42 swimmers worked hard and won all medals… the event had 123 swimmers from various clubs in the country. We expected to encounter strong opposition; what we did was to select 42 top swimmers out of 140 who are now in club.

“Our coach did a commendable job to select competent swimmers ahead of the event and managed to lead us to achieve the best results.

“We feel proud and believe that this is just the start of our target, which is to dominate the game in the country,” said Shebe.

She said that their team analysed their results during the national club championships, which were held at the Haven of Peace Academy (Hopac), to launch their quest for victory.

During the January championships, Taliss scored 2,966 to finish second. Dar Swim Club (DSC) won the event with 3,144 points and Bluefins finished third with 2,945 points while Champion Rise came fourth with 329 points.

She said they were grooming young talented swimmers aged from five to above 17 for the benefit of the nation.

“We have up and coming swimmers who we believe will be good for the nation in the near future. So far, Hilal Hilal is our icon in the club; he has featured in lots of local and international competitions and currently is in Dubai training,” she said.

Future Plan

Shebe said they were yet to be satisfied with the stage they had reached in the game, saying their target was to improve the standard.

“I know every club is now planning for us and as much as we have to celebrate our success, a lot needs to be done in order to maintain the status.Each club is searching for silverware, we need to be focused,” she said.

She called on parents and stakeholders to strengthen their unity in order to achieve their goals.

“For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. We are now in action; we need to maintain it to counter reaction,” she said.