Twenty African countries have confirmed their participation in the upcoming 7th edition of the Confederation of African Swimming Zone 2 swimming championships to be hosted in Accra next month.
The 3 day competition, which will comprise swimming and open water competitions, will run from March 5 to March 8, and will be hosted at the ultra-modern Olympic – standard swimming pool inside the Bukom Boxing Arena.
The participating countries come from Central and West African countries.
Nigeria, Niger, Mali, Togo, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Liberia, Senegal, Liberia, The Gambia, Central African Republic, Gabon, DR Congo, Congo, Sierra Leone, Benin, Cape Cerde, Cote D’Ivoire, Chad and Cameroon have all confirmed their participation.
The Aqua Safari in Ada will host the open water events.
Over 200 swimmers and officials from 22 African countries are expected in Accra for the competition.
President of the Ghana Swimming Federation, Theophilus Edzie, says getting the opportunity to host the rest of Africa is testament to the good works the federation has done over the years.
“We have worked hard over the years to get this far. It’s credit to out determination and I’m particularly happy we have managed to get this international FINA approved swimming pool here which will go along way to helping our swimmers,” He said.
“We hope to use this competition as a springboard to launch Ghana swimming to their Ghanaian populace and we hope to grow from here,” Muniru Kassim, General Secretary of Ghana swimming said.
The CANA Zone 2 Swimming Championships will also serve as a qualifying event for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.