Swimmers set six records at Youth Olympics

Namibian swimmers set six new records at the Youth Olympic Games which ended in Nanjing, China last week.

Lushano Lamprecht, Sonja Adelaar and Zanre Oberholzer all qualified outright to compete at the event, while it was the first time since Joerg Lindemeier and Monica Dahl managed to qualify for the Olympic Games in the Nineties, that Namibian swimmers had achieved ‘A’ qualifying times for an IOC event.

The Youth Olympics only invited 400 swimmers to compete at the Youth Games, compared to 900 swimmers at the London Olympic Games in 2012.

According to a press release issued by the Namibia Swimming Union (NASU), Namibia’s swimmers achieved ‘mixed successes’ but this had to be seen in the context of the Games, which included a huge media hype, television coverage before the start and then continuous coverage during each race.

Lushano Lamprecht set two new national Age Group and Open records.

In the 100m backstroke he broke his own Age Group and Open record of 59,18 seconds with a new time of 58,94 to rank 31st out of 34 swimmers.

In the 200m backstroke he once again broke his own Age Group and Open record of 2:14,52 by more than a second with a new time of 2:05,80, to rank 18th out of 30 swimmers.

Lamprecht also achieved 704 FINA points for the 200m backstroke – a significant mark in swimming.

Sonja Adelaar broke the Namibian Age Group and Open records in the 200m Individual Medley.with a time of 2:22,54. This was more than three seconds faster than her previous best while it improved Christine Briedenhann’s 15/16 year Age Group record of 2:25,51 and Jonay Briedenhann’s Open record of 2:23,54. Adelaar finished 19th overall out of 27 swimmers.

In the 200m freestyle, Adelaar finished 33rd out of 36 swimmers in a time of 2:09,58, which was more than a second outside her entry time of 2:08,43.

Zanre Oberholzer competed in the 50m, 100m and 200m backstroke but failed to break her national records in all three events.

In the 50m backstroke she ranked 27th out of 38 swimmers in a time of 30,39 which was outside her entry time of 30,22.

In the 100m backstroke she finished 21st out of 33 swimmers in 1:04,52 which was outside her entry time of 1:03,36, and in the 200m backstroke she finished 18th out of 28 swimmers in 2:18,36 which was outside her entry time of 2:14,52.

“Oberholzer maintained her position in terms of ranking and this was no mean feat taking into consideration that she battled with an injury for the first three months of the year,” NASU said.

She also scored 730 FINA points for her 200m backstroke, 720 for the 100m backstroke and 705 for her 50m backstroke.

“Our swimmers maintained and improved their ranking in all but one event. They have clearly showed their ability to race on the big stage and have an entirely new set of skills to call on as they prepare for the world stage,” the NASU statement read.

The swimmers are starting with their final preparations this year for the World Short Course Championships in early December in Doha, Qatar, from where they will depart for the biennial Zone VI Games in Zimbabwe.

Daniela Lindemeier, Toni Roth, Sonja Adelaar, Zanre Oberholzer and Lushano Lamprecht have all qualified for the World Short Course Championships in Doha, Qatar.

“We invite the Namibian public to come and attend the local galas and support the swimmers and see a host of other swimmers who are chasing the clock. The next gala will be held in Tsumeb on 3 and 4 October 2014,” NASU said.

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