The Kenya Aquatics (KA) National Long Course Championships set for June 22-23 will act as a qualifier for the Cana Zone 3 Championships Planned for November in Burundi.
Making the announcement yesterday, Kenya Aquatics' executive member, Heize Kahindo, said following the successful Kenya Short Course Championship at the MPESA Academy in Thika, attention now switches to the Kasarani event.
Kahindo said he expects competitive performance from swimmers, especially with slots to the CANA event available as well as the World Aquatics Swimming Championship in Budapest, Hungary in December.
“It's going to be very exciting. The swimmers are training hard and everyone is eyeing a slot to go and compete against the best,” he added.
Kahindo said the local swimmers must have graced at least two of the three qualifiers to participate in the CANA event or the World event.
"For you to merit selection, you must have participated in a minimum of two events and attained the qualification times. We are also observing the swimmers based abroad and will also be considered based on their performance."
A total of 45 clubs are expected for the two-day event among them Seahorses, Braeburn, Bandari, Blue Ocean, Sailfish, Swift Kids, Otters, Crawford, Hydra and Mombasa Aquatics.
The championship has attracted participants from various counties, including Machakos, Kiambu, Nairobi, Mombasa, Murang'a, Kajiado, Nyeri, Laikipia, Uasin Gishu and Kisumu.
The championship is open to those aged between 10-11, 12-13, 14-15, 16-17 and 18 and above.
Kahindo said preparations are ongoing and they are expected to be finalised in the next fortnight. He said the National Junior Championship will be held in July in Eldoret Uasin Gishu.
This, Kihindo says is part of the the federation's agenda to spread the big events across the counties. “We had the national event in Kiambu and we want to spread the cake to other counties in the country,” he added.
