By Desmond Ejibas
Port Harcourt – Team Delta secured 28 medals to win the 11th Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) National Open Swimming Championship in Port Harcourt on Sunday, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.
Delta’s swimmers outshone others from the military, paramilitary and participating states such as Rivers, Edo, Bayelsa, Imo, Ondo, Anambra, Enugu, Kaduna and Kano to win the four-day competition.
The championship attracted at least 200 amateur swimmers from across the country, engaging in 38 events, comprising 30 individual events and eight relay events.
The events included the 200 metres backstroke, 200m butterfly, 200m breaststroke, 500m freestyle, 200m individual medley, 4x100m mixed medley relay, and 4x100m mixed freestyle relay, among others.
A medals table made available to NAN by the organisers showed that Team Delta won the competition with 12 gold, eight silver and eight bronze medals, totaling 28 medals.
The Nigeria Police Force secured second place with eight gold, one silver and three bronze medals, while Nigerian Army clinched third place with five gold, five silver and 10 bronze medals.
Nigerian Navy placed a distant sixth on the 16-team overall medals table with a medals haul of two gold, four silver and two bronze medals.
Speaking during the closing ceremony, Rear Adm. Kennedy Ezete, the Chief of Administration, Nigerian Navy, said the championship was organised in collaboration with the Nigeria Aquatic Federation.
He said the competition aimed to provide youths with the opportunity to develop and nurture their skills for future swimming tournaments.
“The competition was organised to help with the physical, social, and mental development of our youths.
“I am confident that the various events of the competition provided avenues for the discovery of new talents to represent Nigeria in future international competitions.
“The participation of swimmers from all over the nation to compete for laurels in swimming is the Nigerian Navy’s modest contribution to the development of aquatic sports in Nigeria,” he said.
President of Nigeria Aquatic Federation, Mrs Chinonye Aliyu, expressed gratitude to the Nigerian Navy for sponsoring the championship, adding that the event has proven to be instrumental in discovering talents.
She said the competition served as an avenue to identify swimmers for the upcoming 13th African Games to be hosted by Ghana in March and the Olympic Games later in July.
“This CNS championship has helped to identify many who have won laurels for the country.
“Being here with these swimmers in the city of Port Harcourt, I am confident that we witnessed an outstanding competition for athletes and fans,” Aliyu said.
NAN learnt that in the relay category, swimmers earned N60,000 for a gold medal, N40,000 for silver and N20,000 for bronze.
In the individual events, winners received N30,000 for gold, N20,000 for silver, and N10,000 for bronze. (NAN)
