SWIMMING: Trident splash to victory in North Gala

Trident College emerged overall winners of the Independent Schools Association of Zambia (ISAZ) Northern Region swimming gala held at Lechwe Education Trust in Kitwe at the weekend. ‎ ‎The gala attracted 6 schools and 43 events ranging from Under-14 to Under-19 in Backstroke,…

‎Trident College emerged overall winners of the Independent Schools Association of Zambia (ISAZ) Northern Region swimming gala held at Lechwe Education Trust in Kitwe at the weekend.
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‎The gala attracted 6 schools and 43 events ranging from Under-14 to Under-19 in Backstroke, Breaststroke, Butterfly and Freestyle at Lechwe’s newly redeveloped swimming pool.
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‎Schools that competed were hosts Lechwe, Trident College, Simba International School, Mpelembe, Kabitaka and Chengelo.
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‎With top performers earning slots at the ISAZ Nationals set for next month in Lusaka, swimmers cheered on by parents brought the roof down.
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‎The Girls Under-14 4x25m freestyle and Under-14 boys freestyle relays produced fireworks, won by Trident College and Chengelo with the finest of margins to close the competition.
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‎Under-19 boys 50m breaststroke and freestyle champion Temwani Gondwe of Simba showed class as he dominated.
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‎“It was pretty easy for me today compared to the Africa Aquatics Zone 4 Championships held in Botswana this year where I came up against some very competitive swimmers. I’m looking forward to the nationals where I’ll come against the ISAZ best then I’ll continue training towards qualifying for the Commonwealth and Olympic Games,” Gondwe said.
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‎Lechwe’s Under-14 prodigy Asher Chanda described the competition as tough.
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‎“I didn’t anticipate this kind of intensity as I came against some 16 year olds but for you to become great, you have to be mentally tough, it’s all in the head. I’ll definitely work harder going forward,” Chanda said.
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‎FINAL POINTS TABLE:
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‎Trident College – 396 points – 1st
‎-Simba – 286 points – 2nd
‎- Chengelo – 272 points – 3rd
‎- Lechwe – 268 points – 4th
‎- Kabitaka – 175 points – 5th
‎- Mpelembe – 126 points – 6th
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‎Lechwe Education Trust Principal David Chibwe was happy with the successful hosting.
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‎“It’s been a very good competition, we have been looking forward to hosting this event especially that we redeveloped our swimming pool and we are happy that we had 6 schools that came through. We are very happy with the support of the parents and how the event has been conducted. The level of competition was top class considering that some of these learners have only been in school for 3 weeks,” Chibwe said.
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‎On the redeveloped pool, Chibwe said growth in the school population created challenges timetabling younger and older learners, prompting construction of a new baby pool to allow simultaneous classes.
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‎He said the older pool was 24.8 meters long and could not host ZASU competitions where the standard is 25m, hence they have extended it to 25 meters and added 2 more lanes from 6 to 8.
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‎“Meaning that in the next ZASU season we can now apply to host ZASU competitions,” he said.