The Bank Windhoek National Swimming Championships got off to a great start with seven records broken on Wednesday.
In the boys 12 and under 1 500m freestyle, Patrick Durand smashed Nico Esslinger’s eight-year old record of 19:52.37 by more than half a minute with a time of 19:16.38, while second-placed Julian Erni also broke the old record with a time of 19:48.88.
In the girls 15-16 200m medley relay, the Aqua Swimming and Fitness Club team set a new record of 2:10.13 to break the former mark of 2:14.65 set 17 years ago.
The Aqua team consisted of Roselinda Matyayi, Candice Rey, Gizelle Slinger and Madison Bergh.
The Aqua Swimming and Fitness Club also broke the boys 15-16 200m medley relay record with a time of 1:51.85, taking nearly eight seconds off the previous record of 1:59.67 set four years ago.
The team consisted of Lorenzo Esterhuizen, Nathan Bock, Hoandi Hoffmann and Rodney Feris.
In the girls 15-16 200m freestyle relay, the top two teams broke the previous record of 1:58.56, which was established 11 years ago.
The Aqua Swimming and Fitness Club team of Bergh, Rey, Slinger and Matyayi won gold in 1:56.38, while the Dolphins team of Lilia Ellis, Zafari Zeidler, Lara Steyn and Vitoria de Sousa won silver in 1:58.39.
The Aqua Swimming and Fitness Club also set a new record of 1:40.86 in the boys 15-16 200m freestyle relay, breaking the previous mark of 1:44.33 set four years ago.
The team consisted of Bock, Hoffmann, Esterhuizen and Feris.
The national championships continue throughout the weekend, with morning and afternoon sessions starting at 09h00 and 15h30 today and tomorrow, and at 08h00 and 14h00 on Sunday.
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