By MOSES CHIMFWEMBE –
THE Zambia Amateur Swimming Union (ZASU) will this weekend hold the fourth league gala at the new Simba School Swimming Pool in Ndola.
The gala will also act as the final selection of the Zambian team to compete at the African Swimming Confederation (CANA) Zone Three and Four Championships which will be hosted in Kampala, Uganda.
The CANA Zone Three and Four gala which will start from April 24 to 28, has attracted Mauritius, Seychelles, Swaziland, Madagascar, Comoros, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana, Malawi, Angola, and Mozambique.
ZASU secretary Nicola Sharpe-Phiri said in an interview yesterday that the association would use the gala to pick a 30-member Zambian team for the Uganda championships.
“We will have preliminary selection of swimmers in the Zambian team for the CANA ZoneThree and Four and we would like to pick about 30 swimmers in the provisional team,” she said.
Zambia staged the 2013 swimming championships at the 90 Days Legacy Swimming Pool situated at the Olympic Youth Development Centre (OYDC).
And Phiri unveiled an estimated budget of K300, 000 to enable 30 swimmers to participate in the championship.
“ZASU is appealing to the Government of Zambia and the corporate community to continue to provide support to enable the swimmers to participate in these international events,” she said.
Phiri said ZASU will this year take part in several other international events such as the Africa Youth Championships to be held in Botswana, the Commonwealth Games in Scotland and the Youth Olympic Games in China.