Two Dar young swimmers for Africa youth games
Tanzania’s U-18 swimmer Ammaar Ghadivali dives in a past event. Ghadivali is among two swimmers who will represent the country in this year’s Africa Youth Games in Gaborone, Botswana, next year. PHOTO | FILE
What you need to know:
Organised by the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (Anoca), games will serve as a qualifying event for the 2014 Youth Olympic Games to be held in Nanjing, China.
Dar es Salaam. Tanzania Olympic Committee (TOC) has named two swimmers who will represent the country in this year’s Africa Youth Games in Gaborone, Botswana next year.
Organised by the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (Anoca), games will serve as a qualifying event for the 2014 Youth Olympic Games to be held in Nanjing, China.
In an interview with The Citizen yesterday, TOC secretary general Filbert Bayi named the swimmers as Gouri Kotecha and Ammaar Ghadivali.
Bayi said Kotecha will compete in the 200m freestyle and 100m backstroke disciplines, and Ghadiyali will battle it out for top honours in the 50m butterfly and 200m freestyle.
The Africa Youth Games are a quadrennial event which was first initiated by Anoca during the 2009-2012 Olympiad and meant for youth within the U-18 bracket.
The maiden edition was hosted in Rabat, Morocco from July 13 to 18, 2010.
Bayi termed the announcement of the two swimmers as the beginning of the road for Gaborone 2014, which has 22 sports disciplines on its schedule. He said Tanzania will also compete in athletics in the Games, which will feature 2,500 young athletes from more than 40 African countries.
“Ghadivali and Kotecha are among athletes expected to represent Tanzania at the Anoca Games. We expect to name more players later this year,” the TOC secretary said..
He challenged the two swimmers to train even harder, noting that they will be up against the crème of young swimmers from other countries during the Gaborone games.
“They should know that qualifying for the Anoca Games is one thing and making a mark at the games is another. “They must undergo adequate preparations if they are to win medals in Gaborone and secure tickets for next year’s Youth Olympic Games,” he stressed.
He said there was a need for Tanzania Swimming Association (TSA) and other stakeholders to accord them the support they need to make Tanzanians proud at the multi-sport event.
He also urged those striving to make it to the Youth Games to compete in various qualifying competitions sanctioned by Anoca.
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Athletics, badminton, basketball, boxing (men), cycling, football (men), golf, judo, Karate, netball, rugby, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, volleyball, canoeing, rowing, triathlon, weight-lifting, wrestling and fencing.
The total number of athletes required from all countries is 2,500.
