Marine conquerors

By Oscar Pilipili and Ernest Ndunda

Coast swimmers grabbed five medals in South Africa Level Two Gala in Durban as Safaricom made its entry into the sport by sponsoring Nairobi Swimming Association (NASA) Junior Championships in Nairobi.

Maria Brunlenhner of Mombasa Academy bagged gold and bronze on day three of the Durban Championships.

Maria who holds several national records won gold in girls 100m breast after she clocked one minute 25.09 seconds with Burhanuddin Chandabhai winning silver with a time of 1:25.10.

In girls’ 200m freestyle, Maria added a bronze medal after she posted a time of 2:31. 94.

Shaan Vora won silver in100m butterfly in 1:16.63 while Chandabhai won bronze 1:19.65.

Nobby Obuya was the only boy with outstanding performance after he managed fourth position in 50m backstroke in 37.53.

In Nairobi, junior and masters swimmers converged at Aga Khan High School to compete in Safaricom-sponsored Nasa Junior Championships that attracted a bumper entry.

Manuel Karanja of Makini School starred in boys’ under7 25m backstroke after she won the event in 21.94. Jay Jasani of Braeside was second in 25.08 while Karl Murugu of Aga Khan Nairobi clocked 25.35 to finish third.

Well prepared

Karanja said: "I was well prepared for the race because my coach (Paul Oduor) trained me well. I’ll continue to train hard and win more competitions in future."

Girls honours went to Victoria Okumu of Braeside who clocked 21.62 to relegate Neema Kariuki of Makini to runner-up position with 24.47.

Joy Ndonga of Makini won girls’ under-9 100m individual medley with impressive time of 1:43.31 which was 4.12 faster than her closest challenger Maiyan Kamondo of Aqua Swim Club who finished a distant second in 1:47.43.

Thulani Muya of Peponi clocked 2:09.48 to win boys’ under-9 100m individual medley followed by Timon Tenanbergen who returned 2:09.60.

Makini was in the limelight again after fast-rising Francis Agola won boys’ under-11 100m individual medley in 1:24.50 followed by Kirunda Kunyiha of Aga Khan Nairobi who touched the wall in 1:36.45 and Kigen Chemirmir who came third in 1:39.60.

Atuhaire Ambala put Strathmore on winners list after he won boys’ under-10 100m individual medley in 1:28.66. Nabil Saleh of Braeside was placed second in 1:29.53 and Aqua’s Kabir Bedi came third in 1:31.66.

Faith Kariuki swimming under cool and shiny weather conditions shrugged off stiff challenge from Felicia Armtoft to win girls’ under-9 25m backstroke in 22.70.

Armtoft was contended with the runners-up position after returning 22.75 and Makini’s Joy Ndonga was third in 23.18.

Braeside’s Maxime Franck lifted boys’ under-9 25m breaststroke race title in a time of 23.06 followed by Zachariah Speakman of Peponi (24.23).

Hadassah Gichovi of Loreto Convent Valley Road splashed through the 25m long Aga Khan High pool in 47.01 to claim girls’ under-10 50m breaststroke.