Renowned swimming coach Abdulmalik Abduklmalik will spearhead one of the Kenyan teams to the Africa Zone 3 swimming Championship at the Kasarani Aquatics Sports Complex in October.
The Mombasa coach is one of the most experienced coaches in the country, having graced international events like the World Championships and Olympics. He will be at the helm of Team A.
Team
B will be guided by fast-rising coach Noni Katuga, who is also the coach of Little Fish Swimming Club in Nairobi.
Katuga is no stranger to the big stage, having been in charge of Team Kenya during the World Aquatics Short Course Championships in Budapest.
She has quickly earned a reputation as one of the most promising female coaches in the region.
Several of her swimmers have already clocked over 500 FINA points, a feat that signals just how high her influence runs.
To strengthen the technical bench, a team of assistant coaches has been drawn from across the country, including Lucas Juma (NextGen Nairobi), Jacqueline Macharia (Kiambu), Abdalla Mansoor (Bandari Mombasa) and Kelvin Beru (Uasin Gishu).
Others are—Fiona Kinyua (Embu), Steve Biko (Kisumu), Noel Amwayi (Machakos) and Boniface Anyanzwa (Laikipia).
Away from the pool deck, the team will be in the safe hands of two respected chaperones—Dr. Susan Nanchama, affectionately known as “Mama Swift in Kisumu, and Kiambu’s very own Trizah Waithera.
Waithera, whose tireless voluntary work has done much to market Kenya Aquatics programmes, has previously accompanied the Masters team to Uganda and Tanzania.
While unveiling the names, Kenya Aquatics Secretary General Collins Marigiri explained that the process was guided by merit, discipline, gender balance and regional exclusivity.
He noted that Kenya has a growing pool of talented swimmers, which created the need to increase the number of assistant coaches so that more athletes can be nurtured and exposed to the rigours of international competition.
“We want to give our swimmers as much exposure as possible to global swimming meets,” he said, adding that the structures being put in place will also help to develop future stars.
