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Delie makes Namibia proud

Delie makes Namibia proud

ONE of Namibia’s youngest swimmers, Quinton Delie, made his country proud by pulling off stunning performances in the pool as he scooped three bronze medals despite tough opposition at the All Africa Junior Swimming Championships in Mauritius over the weekend.

Delie (13) also broke four Namibian records in the process, making him one of the top junior swimmers in the 50 metre freestyle (27.30 heats) and (27.14), and the 200m freestyle (2:11.30). His fourth record came in the 100m freestyle late on Sunday, but the time could not be confirmed.Delie collected his first bronze medal in the 50m butterfly, his second in the 200m freestyle and collected the third in the 200m individual medley.Fifteen countries competed at the prestigious event, with 17 Namibian juniors vying for honours.In other results, Namibia’s Corinna Wahl (12) broke the Namibian record in the 50m freestyle when she raced to the finish in a time of 29.75 seconds.The girls under-15 and -16 relay team also set a new Namibian record of 4:34.94 in the 4×100 m freestyle, while the same team also recorded an impressive 9:49.27 in the 4×200 m freestyle, another Namibian record.Namibia Swimming Union president Dieter Guhring said Namibia can be proud of all its 17 up-and-coming swimming heroes.”These swimmers have all been fantastic ambassadors for our country and who knows, some of them may even make it to the 2008 Olympics in China or the 2012 Olympics in England,” he said.Namibian swimmers reached the finals 38 times, while a total of 81 personal best times were recorded.Guhring told The Namibian Sport yesterday that Delie was one of the lucky swimmers at the competition to have gone through to the finals, as competition was stiff.”If you look at the first and second positions, they are all occupied by South Africa, which sends a strong team of swimmers to most events.The records set at the championships also show that the sport is alive and on the right track.”Swimming in Namibia is making progress and I am optimistic about the chances of our swimmers in competing at major international world events in the near future,” he said.Guhring said the swimmers are due back today.Namibia has seven swimming clubs.Four are based in Windhoek, with one each in Swakopmund, Mariental and Oranjemund.The Swakopmund Swimming Club is the biggest, followed by Dolphins, which is based in Windhoek.His fourth record came in the 100m freestyle late on Sunday, but the time could not be confirmed.Delie collected his first bronze medal in the 50m butterfly, his second in the 200m freestyle and collected the third in the 200m individual medley.Fifteen countries competed at the prestigious event, with 17 Namibian juniors vying for honours. In other results, Namibia’s Corinna Wahl (12) broke the Namibian record in the 50m freestyle when she raced to the finish in a time of 29.75 seconds.The girls under-15 and -16 relay team also set a new Namibian record of 4:34.94 in the 4×100 m freestyle, while the same team also recorded an impressive 9:49.27 in the 4×200 m freestyle, another Namibian record.Namibia Swimming Union president Dieter Guhring said Namibia can be proud of all its 17 up-and-coming swimming heroes.”These swimmers have all been fantastic ambassadors for our country and who knows, some of them may even make it to the 2008 Olympics in China or the 2012 Olympics in England,” he said.Namibian swimmers reached the finals 38 times, while a total of 81 personal best times were recorded.Guhring told The Namibian Sport yesterday that Delie was one of the lucky swimmers at the competition to have gone through to the finals, as competition was stiff.”If you look at the first and second positions, they are all occupied by South Africa, which sends a strong team of swimmers to most events.The records set at the championships also show that the sport is alive and on the right track.”Swimming in Namibia is making progress and I am optimistic about the chances of our swimmers in competing at major international world events in the near future,” he said.Guhring said the swimmers are due back today.Namibia has seven swimming clubs.Four are based in Windhoek, with one each in Swakopmund, Mariental and Oranjemund.The Swakopmund Swimming Club is the biggest, followed by Dolphins, which is based in Windhoek.

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