Erasmus Shalihaxwe
Namibia Swimming Federation (Nasfed) president Riaan Steyn has cautioned the public and media against over-hyping athletes who participated in the swimming competition for Angola’s 50th independence celebration held in Luanda last weekend.
Namibia’s team performance was seen as exceptional, finishing with the most gold medals and being declared the overall winners of the competition.
They collected 22 gold, 10 silver, and five bronze medals. Angola followed with 18 gold, 17 silver, and 30 bronze medals. South Africa came third with nine gold, seven silver, and one bronze medal.
A total of ten teams took part in the event, including Zambia, Cape Verde, Mozambique, a team from Portugal, and various invited Angolan teams.
Despite the strong performance, Steyn urged for perspective on the competition level and warned against creating unrealistic expectations for the athletes.
“Dear all, from a Federation point of view, we are extremely proud of the swimmers that took part in this invitational competition and agree that their performances were exceptional. We do not take part half-heartedly in any competition, nor do we send athletes who are unable to perform,” said Steyn.
“We, however, need to gain some perspective on the level of the competition and, as a precaution, warn and please ask the media not to over-hype our athletes’ performances, as this can be detrimental to them as well. Media must also note that this was not a national team but a federation team (although they performed like a national team),” he added.
