The first instalment of the 2020 Bank Windhoek Long Course Gala, the third for the season, took place this past weekend at the Olympia Municipal Pool in Windhoek.Despite a month-long break, swimmers put in great performances and broke six individual records: one from the women's and five from the men's events.
Cheryl Young broke the Women's 45 and Over 50 Butterfly (FL) record in a time of 38.80, which erased Zoe Mitchell's record of 46.15 set in 2019. In the Boys eight and Under 200 Individual Medley (IM), Andre Badenhorst recorded a time of 3:21.33, which toppled Ryan Steyn's 3:24.99 time recorded in 2019.
Jan Louis Mostert pushed himself to the limit as he broke the Men's 25 to 44 years 800 metres Freestyle (FR) event in a time of 12:03.94. As a result, Mostert broke the record he set back in 2019, which stood at 12:19.52.
Mostert did not stop there as he went on and broke three more records listed below:
- Men's 25 to 44 years 1 500 metres FR in 23:05.48, to overcome Wynand Dreyer's time of 23:51.75 set in 2018.
- Men's 25 to 44 years 200 metres FL in 3:14.18, which broke Adriaan Maritz's 3:36.86 set in 2019.
- Mostert also broke the Men's 25 to 44 years 400 metres IM in 6:32.54. The previous record, which stood at 6:52.76, was set by Maritz in 2019.
Hosted by the Namibia Swimming Union (NASU), the Bank Windhoek Long Course Gala saw a total of 134 competitors, made up of 62 male and 72 female swimmers. With their ages ranging from as low as 6 to 60 years of age, the swimmers represented clubs such as Aqua Swimming and Fitness Club, Dolphins Swimming Club, Marlins Swimming Club, and Phoenix Swimming Academy.
The longest distance swum was 1 500, 800, and 400 metres of Freestyle swimming, which required the athletes to use mostly their legs and arms for competitive swimming, except in the case of the individual medley or medley relay events.
“The 2020 Bank Windhoek Long Course Gala was a huge success. Thank you to Bank Windhoek for making this possible. To our Namibian swimmers, we wish you the best as you prepare for upcoming competitions, which we anticipate to be more competitive than before," said NASU's Executive Committee Member, Nicky McNamara.
The next event on the Namibian swimming calendar, is the Bank Windhoek Namibian National Long Course Championships, taking place from Thursday, 27 February until Sunday, 1 March 2020.
