Swim Club unveils ambitious project

Dar es Salaam. A leading swimming club has launched a 10-year training programme aimed at producing competent swimmers to be the country’s flag bearers at international competitions.

The Dar Swim Club said yesterday the programme would be supervised by qualified coaches.

Some of the mentors are Michael Livingstone, Felick Kalengela, Kanisi Mabena and Radhia Ngereza.

According to Inviolata Itatiro, the club’s secretary-general, the coaches were carefully selected based on experience.

The mentors attained their international swimming training at the University of Florida.

Targetted for the training programme are children as young as two years old and teenagers.

“Our mission is to promote and develop swimming in Tanzania,” she said. “We believe there are lots of swimmers in the country who are yet to get the chance to represent the country at international competitions,” she added.

Inviolata decried what she said was “fear of the waters” by the majority of Tanzanians.

She said the club had a vision to ensure every interested child was given the opportunity to be a swimmer.

Apart from teaching children, the club has established a “dream team”, which very soon will compete in the Commonwealth Games, World Championships as well as the Olympic Games.

Tanzanian swimmers who have competed and won medals at international competitions include Sonia Tumiotto, Celine Itatiro, Maia Tumiotto, Keyla Mushi, Maya Somaiya and Anjan Tylor. “We want to have competitors and not just participants. We have young people who can make us proud,” she said.

The programme

The club’s most experienced trainer, Ferick Kalengela, said they had formed categoriesfor their training sessions, according to age.

Swimmers who are between one and seven years old will have to attend the ‘Learn to swim’ programme. Once they prove to have picked up the basics, they qualify for the next stage, which is the stroke development programme.

At this stage, the trainees are taught how to perform different movements.

The coach explained that after doing better in stroke movements, the swimmers will undergo training on how to improve different strokes before joining the ‘Train to train’ stage during which all the swimmers learn how to move long distances.

Later, they will learn how to compete (train to compete). This is the stage where swimmers learn dives, strokes, counts and various techniques.

“We also have a programme known as ‘Train to win’, which is special for swimmers, who expect to compete at national and international levels, respectively.

“This is a 10-year project, and we are sure to scout and achieve our goal and make the country proud internationally,” said Kalengela.

Club senior trainer Michael Livingstone said since they started in July 2004, they have scouted and developed more than 60 swimmers, who shone in both local and international competitions.

One of the products, Salum Mapunda, who was a famous swimmer, is now a coach with the club.

Michael Lutta, who is also a product of the club, is now coaching at the elite International school of Tanganyika (IST).

According to Livingstone, the club is now famous in the US, Dubai, South Africa, Uganda, Kenya, and Mozambique and UK, where members often attend training programmes.

“In 2010, we attended swimming course in Dubai. We also competed in Zambia in 2009, 2010 and 2011 in the Zonal championship. “We also had regular competitions in Nairobi, the Junior Championship, Kenya National championship, Invitational championship in Mombasa,”

In South Africa, the club participated in the Level 1 and Level 2 swimming championship as well as African Swimming Confederation (Cana) Zonal Championship.

“Our young swimmers are inspired by our training programme as well as our efforts to make sure they get international exposure,” said Livingstone.