Luanda — Thirteen countries have confirmed their presence in the Zone IV African Swimming Championship, to be held from 3 to 7 May this year, at the Alvalade swimming pool in the capital city, it was announced Wednesday in Luanda at a press conference.

South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia (the defending champion), as well as the host Angola, are the countries that will participate in the competition.

Among the member countries, only Zimbabwe has not yet confirmed its participation in the competition, in which Angola will seek to remain on the podium, after the third place obtained with 22 gold medals, 21silver and 18 bronze, during the 2015 edition which took place in Luanda.

The event that qualifies for the World Open Water Championships to be held in Setubal city of Portugal, next May, foresees the participation of 250 swimmers, 60 of whom are members of Angola's National Team.

Regarding the participation's history, Angola marks its 10th presence, after the debut in 2013, where it occupied the 10th place, in Lusaka capital city of Zambia in an event that included the current best sprinter of 100 and 200m freestyle, Henrique Mascarenhas, at the time with 11 years old.

To meet the goal of staying on the podium, the group, which will be complete on Sunday, with the arrival of swimmers from Portugal, England and Spain, will work with the South African coach, Cedric Finch, in the last stage of preparation.

Lia Lima, Maria Freitas, Rafaela Santo, N'hara Fernandes, Inara Santos, Henrique Mascarenhas, Salvador Gordo, Pedo Pinotes, Rafael Furtado, Rafael Bredel, David Padre, Djamel Pires and Yano Elias, are the 60 Angolan swimmers summoned.