By ADRIAN MWANZA and GODFREY DUBE –
ZAMBIA Swimming Union (ZSU) president David Thompson says he does not expect swimmers to reap any medals at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
Thompson said the swimmers would instead use the experience to be gained at the Brazil outing as preparation for the next Olympic Games to be staged in Tokyo, Japan, in 2020.
He said ZSU would not be expecting swimmers to win any medals in Rio as they were not ready yet to challenge at that high level despite them having improved over the years.
“Even though Zambian swimmers are good, I don’t expect them to bag any medals at the Rio Olympics but I am sure they break their personal best time records,” he said.
Thompson said this during the first day of the opening ZSU national league gala at the 90 Days Legacy Swimming Pool located at the Olympic Youth Development Centre (OYDC) in Lusaka.
He said the two-day gala, that attracted about 230 teams from across the country, had seen an improvement in terms of participants.
Zambia will be represented at the Olympic Games by Alexandros Axiotis, Ralph Govea, Tilka Paljk and Jade Howard.
He said the swimmers would also take part in the Africa Swimming Confederation (CANA) Zone Four swimming gala to be held in Mauritius in April this year.
Thompson said the swimmers would also use the event in Mauritius as preparation for the Olympics and was optimistic they would perform well.
