15th Fina Short Course World Swimming Championships 2021 |17 December 2021
Khema Elizabeth
Four represent Seychelles in Abu Dhabi
Four elite swimmers ‒ Khema Elizabeth, Aaliyah Palestrini, Simon Bachmann and Mathieu Bachmann ‒ have been selected to take part in the 15th Fina Short Course World Swimming Championships 2021 in Abu Dhabi.
The swimmers are accompanied by head coach Vanessa Narty and head of the delegation Maureen Payet who is also the secretary of the Seychelles Swimming Association (SSA).
SSA chairman David Vidot and secretary Maureen Payet will attend the Fédération international de Natation (Fina) general congress scheduled for tomorrow, December 18, at Hilton Hotel, Abu Dhabi.
In the 25m (short course) temporary pool installed at the Etihad Sport Complex, Khema Elizabeth will swim the 100m freestyle and 50m butterfly, Aaliyah Palestrini will compete in the 50m backstroke and 100m medley, Simon Bachmann will take part in the 200m butterfly and 400m medley, and Mathieu Bachmann will compete in the 100m freestyle and 100m butterfly.
The four swimmers will also compete in the mixed 4x50m freestyle relay and mixed 4x50m medley relay.
The SAA has said the selection has been based on the highest Fina points scored by the swimmers.
On the other hand, reigning Sportswoman of the Year Felicity Passon has pulled out of the championships because of studies and exams since she is in her final year.
The championships will be staged over six days (from December 16-21) with heats in the morning sessions and the semifinals and finals in the evening session.
Right after the opening ceremony, the athletes started competing and Simon Bachmann was in action in the 200m butterfly heats, clocking a time of 2 minutes 04.29 seconds (2:04.29) to be ranked 35th out of 42 swimmers.
He was 13.97 seconds slower than Trenton Julian of the United States of America, the fastest of the eight qualifiers for the final.
The championships were previously scheduled for December 13-18 but moved back three days on February 24, 2021.
Originally scheduled to be held in 2020, the championships were pushed back one year as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In September 2021, it was announced the championships would be part of a larger aquatics programme called the Abu Dhabi Aquatics Festival, which includes competition in open water swimming, diving, and high diving.
Meanwhile, Seychellois official Paul Fanchette is also in Abu Dhabi as one of four referees.
Gerard Govinden
