Harare Amateur Swimming concluded the first weekend of its Senior Championships on Sunday, with most swimmers expressing satisfaction with their performances in their respective events.
The competition, held over two consecutive weekends got underway last Friday at Les Brown Swimming Pool.
It features Harare clubs. After Sunday's events, swimmers are taking a break before returning to the pool this Friday.
The meet ends on Sunday.
Clubs taking part include Highlands, Spartans, Vikings, Sharks, Wild Orcas, Otters, and Dorado.
The likes of Limbikani Kalipengule from Vikings expected to be part of the team to represent the country at the Africa Zone IV Championships in Windhoek, Namibia early next month, also took advantage of the gala to up their preparations.
Some of the events he competed in include 400m freestyle, 100m freestyle, and 50m butterfly for the Boys 16-year-Olds.
"It's been quite a good weekend but there has not been a lot of competition because a lot of people have dropped out, so the finals are not full. There is maybe four or five people in the finals but it's been a good weekend.
"I am getting the competition that I need to get better. . . I am going on tour in about a week, so I am looking forward to that.
"And I am looking forward to Nationals because there is more competition and I get to swim with other guys, and it's really good for me to bring down my times a little bit," said Kalipengule.
The national senior championships are due to take place next year in February.
Upcoming swimmer Tassia Kaschula of Dorado Swim Club, also posted some encouraging performances claiming silver in the 400m freestyle, in the girls' 13-year-olds.
Spartans' Neema Bhulabhai emerged tops to claim gold and Kuzivakwashe Govo was third.
"It's been really good. I am only getting quite nervous but I feel like my races have gone well and I hope that they go well like the ones coming up (this coming weekend).
"I am really happy with my results. I got so many PBs and I hope that I will get some (more) PBs. I am (happy) because there were some PBs that I wasn't expecting," said Kaschula.
She picked a silver medal in the 400m freestyle, 200m freestyle, and 200m breaststroke among other events.
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HAS chairperson Rumbidzai Mahobele said they registered an increase in participants for this year's edition.
"The turnout has been very good. We have got about 366 children currently in the province. But for this particular competition, 290 have entered out of the 366, which is up from 249 last year.
"We have seen some good times being posted, a lot of personal best times, a lot of time being taken off from their previous times, which is a very welcome move," said Mahobele. As the event continues this coming weekend, Mahobele is confident of more interesting outcomes in the various age groups.
"Well, we are expecting a continued performance improvement.
"We are hoping that these few days will also give them a time to rest from this weekend and we are expecting to see good performance next weekend and also posting of records and possibly tour times," Mahobele said.
HAS also uses the provincial gala as part of the selection criteria for their team to compete at the Nationals Championships.
