Eight Namibian swimmers have qualified and been selected to take part at the 9th All African Games in Algiers, Algeria.
The men are Byron Briedenhann, Quinton Delie, Tristan McDonald and Stefan van Zijl, the female swimmers are Jonay Briedenhann, Ilka Preschel and Corinna Wahl. The team is made up of young but very talented youths who have proved their mettle on the continent and international scene in the recent past.
The 17-year-old Jonay Briedenhann made her international debut in 2005 when she, at the age of 14, competed in the 11th FINA World Championships held in Montreal, Canada together with team colleague Alex Ray. The two of them also competed at the Commonwealth Games held in Australia last year. Jonay most recently competed in the 12th FINA World Championships held in Melbourne, Australia in March this year.
Her brother Byron Briedenhann, Quinton Delie and Stefan van Zijl put Namibia on the world youth swimming map when they competed at the FINA World Youth Championships, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in August 2006.
Quinton Delie, Tristan McDonald, Ilka Preschel and Corinna Wahl already represented Namibia at junior level when, in August 2005 they competed at the Junior African Swimming Championships held in Mauritius. Namibiaâ??s flag was hoisted a total of three times during this competition in honour of Quinton Delieâ??s achievements â?? three bronze medals.
During the past swimming season an astonishing total of 89 Namibian records were broken, the bulk of which can be attributed to the eight All African Games swimmers.