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Team Kenya off to Malawi for championship
What you need to know:
- Kenya’s team of 14 swimmers and four officials leave the country Monday morning for Malawi where the team will compete in the CANA Zone IV Swimming Championship that starts on Wednesday.
- The youthful team that leaves at 6.15am is captained by Imara-Bella Thorpe, who claimed a silver medal at a similar championship two years ago in Mauritius.
- The 17-year-old Thorpe is one of the most experienced members of the team and will be making her fifth appearance at the championship in Lilongwe.
Kenya’s team of 14 swimmers and four officials leave the country Monday morning for Malawi where the team will compete in the CANA Zone IV Swimming Championship that starts on Wednesday.
The youthful team that leaves at 6.15am is captained by Imara-Bella Thorpe, who claimed a silver medal at a similar championship two years ago in Mauritius.
The 17-year-old Thorpe is one of the most experienced members of the team and will be making her fifth appearance at the championship in Lilongwe.
Other experienced swimmers in the team are Rushab Shah, who also claimed silver and two bronze medals in Mauritius and Clyde Lwanya, the winner of two bronze medals in Zambia last year.
Also making the team are Jasmine Kimani, Victoria Okumu, Thomas Tabuka and Kunaal Khagram. Those who will be competing from Kenya for the first time are included 12-year-olds Ishaq Bashir and Lenise Wanakai, Erica Wangeci, Scott Kithikii, John Paul and Aryen Muravvej.
The Zone IV is one of the toughest African swimming regions and contains some historically strong African swimming nations like, the Republic of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mauritius and Namibia. Reginald Okumu, a member of Kenya Swimming Federation Stakeholder Management Committee, noted that Kenya’s performance in previous CANA events has been strong.
Last year in CANA Zone III championship which brought together east and central African countries, in Dar es Salaam, the team finished second behind hosts Tanzania.
“The team aims to improve their overall performance against highly ranked southern Africa teams,” said Okumu noting that the event is a short-course swimming championship.
Full Team:
Girls: Lenise Wanakai, Victoria Okumu, Jasmine Kimani, Imara-Bella Thorpe, Aisha Nasser, Erica Wangeci.
Boys: Thomas Tabuka, Clyde Lwanya, Ishaq Bashir, Rushab Shah, Kunaal Khagram, Scott Kithikii, John Paul, Aryen Muravvej.
Officials: Sanjeev Khagram (Head of Delegation), Anthony Muriithi (Head Coach), Emily Wanakai (Chaperone) and Linda Thorpe (Team Doctor).
