NASFED postpones championship meet
Swimmers frustrated
17 February 2021 | Sports
Nicky McNamara, NASFED PRO; “It’s hard to keep individuals motivated when the end goal keeps shifting.”?
Swakopmund • [email protected]
After the Namibian swimming community missed out on their entire Short Course season due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Bank Windhoek Namibian Long Course National Swimming Championships have also been postponed.
“The last time the president spoke he didn’t increase the number of people allowed at an event nor extend the time that events are allowed to be, which is currently two hours. This is a problem for us because we need to have at least 30 heats, with about 170 swimmers competing. We also work in time slots of roughly four and a half hours,” says Nicky McNamara, public relations officer of the Namibian Swimming Federation (NASFED).
McNamara says that this is incredibly frustrating for swimmers. “I think the hardest part is the frustration. It’s hard to keep individuals motivated when the end goal keeps shifting. As an athlete you train to peak at a certain time and that time keeps moving,” she says.
In spite of these challenges, Namibian swimmers remain invested in their training regimes.
“Many of our swimmers are currently training for competitions in other countries like South Africa,” says McNamara who reiterates NASFED’s commitment to their sport and athletes.
McNamara says that these issues are not unique to swimming as a sport, but are universal to the majority of sport codes in the world at the moment.
After the Namibian swimming community missed out on their entire Short Course season due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Bank Windhoek Namibian Long Course National Swimming Championships have also been postponed.
“The last time the president spoke he didn’t increase the number of people allowed at an event nor extend the time that events are allowed to be, which is currently two hours. This is a problem for us because we need to have at least 30 heats, with about 170 swimmers competing. We also work in time slots of roughly four and a half hours,” says Nicky McNamara, public relations officer of the Namibian Swimming Federation (NASFED).
McNamara says that this is incredibly frustrating for swimmers. “I think the hardest part is the frustration. It’s hard to keep individuals motivated when the end goal keeps shifting. As an athlete you train to peak at a certain time and that time keeps moving,” she says.
In spite of these challenges, Namibian swimmers remain invested in their training regimes.
“Many of our swimmers are currently training for competitions in other countries like South Africa,” says McNamara who reiterates NASFED’s commitment to their sport and athletes.
McNamara says that these issues are not unique to swimming as a sport, but are universal to the majority of sport codes in the world at the moment.
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