Swimmers return home with eight gold medals |27 March 2018

Gold medallists Therese Soukup, Nathan Nagapin and Damien Payet along with the rest of the team, coach Guillaume Bachmann and team manager Beryl Laramé returned home yesterday from Lilongwe, Malawi where they had taken part in the Cana Zone IV swimming championship.

Youth, Sports and Culture Minister Mitcy Larue was among the welcoming party at the Seychelles International Airport and she handed out gifts to the swimmers.

The swimming team brought back a total of 16 medals ‒ eight gold, six silver and two bronze ‒ won at the Africa Bible College (ABC) to finish fifth on the 13-team log dominated by Zambia with 64 medals ‒ 20 gold, 20 silver and 24 bronze.

Coach Bachmann said it was a pleasure to watch this small group of kids work together and bring back home these gold medals, adding that this shows that the swimming team is very competitive.

Three-time gold medallist Soukup explained that this was a great preparation for her as she will be competing in the Commonwealth Games set to start next week.

“They were really tough races with lots of competitors. I’m really happy with my result because I train hard and I want to keep training hard with the Commonwealth Games coming up,” said Soukup. 

Sports NATION also caught up with the other two gold medallists.

Winner of three gold medals of his own, Nathan Nagapin described the competition as “fun and tough”, and it is clear that the young boy has a bright future.

Damien Payet, who won two gold medals, simply stated: “I tried my best and I’m happy with my result. I train very hard and the opponents were strong and fast, but I tried my best”.

Soukup won her three gold medals in the female 14 years and under 400m freestyle in 4:40.32, female under-14 800m freestyle in 9:43.46 and female 13-15 years 200m freestyle in 2:11.68.

Nagapin triumphed in the male 12 years and under 50m freestyle (28.56 seconds), male under-15 50m breaststroke (35.47 seconds) and male 12 years and under 200m freestyle (2:18.18).

As for Damien Payet, he hit the wall first in the male 14 years and under 400m freestyle (4:31.39) and male under-14 800m freestyle (9:11.58).

The six silver medals have been won by Soukup in the female 13-14 100m backstroke (1:07.88), female 13-14 years 50m freestyle (28.00 seconds) and female 13-14 years 50m backstroke (32.23 seconds); Nagapin male 12 and under 100m breaststroke (1:18.79) and male 12 years and under 200m breaststroke (2:56.21); and Alan Vidot male 13-14 years 100m breaststroke (1:14.05)

The bronze medallists are: Therese Soukup female 13-14 years 200m backstroke (2:30.37) and Nagapin male 12 years and under 50m butterfly (32.07 seconds).

The other swimmers who took part in the championship were Tyler Fred, Thierry Payet and Bertrand Payet.

Rodney Rose