Kenyan swimmers shine in Dar

Kenyan swimmer Neo Olengo. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

Kenyan swimmers swimming under a suspended member federation shone during the CANA zone three swimming championships that started on Thursday at Dar es Salaam Gymkhana Club in Tanzania.

The swimmers who finished third overall last year in Kampala, Uganda with 2,369 points as Uganda carried the day with 2,827 points have been allowed by the International Swimming Federation (FINA) to participate in the competition as individuals and not as a national team following Kenya's indefinite suspension by Fina for failure to put its house in order including its failure to hold elections.

Kenyan swimmers under coach Lembeli Anze and assisted by Muthoni Katuga and Slavica Latinovic put aside their domestic swimming leadership wrangles to prove their worth after winning most of the races on day one.

Neo Olengo, who swims for Nairobi's Seahorses swimming club, won three gold medals in men's 12 years under 200m breastroke, 100m butterfly and 50m breastroke.

In 200m breastroke, Olengo clocked 2.52.31 for gold with Mapalo Banda of Zambia and Uganda's Jaden Mwase timing 3.13.00 and 3.19.52 for the second and third positions respectively.

Olengo bagged his second gold medal in 100m butterfly with a time of 1.10.58 beating Tanzanian duo of Julius Missokia and Max Missokia who timed 1.15.35 and 1.16.20 respectively.

In the 50m breastroke, Olengo emerged victorious after touching the wall first with a time of 37.88. Another Kenyan Hassan Ngaywa and Zambia's Temfuma Nshimbi clocked 40.89 and 41.27 for the second and third slots respectively. [Ernest Ndunda]