(ATR) Sam Ramsamy tells Around the Rings a "very aggressive" development program will top his agenda as head of the African Swimming Confederation.
The IOC member for South Africa spoke to ATR from Kenya, where he won election Thursday over Nigeria’s Thomas Olatokunboh on the sidelines of the 11th African Swimming Championships in Nairobi.
"I’m glad that I got in excess of 70 percent of the votes," Ramsamy said. "I was secretary general for the last 12 years, and I felt that I needed to go higher up. I had excellent support."
According to the FINA vice president and now CANA president, the biennial championships went "superbly well" with athletes from 14 countries swimming Monday to Sunday at the Moi International Sports Center.
Even without its medalists from the 2012 Olympics competing, South Africa easily topped the medal count with 51 total, 29 of them gold.
Tunisia, the other African country to reach the podium in London, was second in golds won but well behind Egypt in terms of total medals.
"It’s interesting that we’re getting Kenya, Senegal, Algeria and Angola also coming in," Ramsamy told ATR, referencing the rest of the medals table from Nairobi.
"That’s very encouraging for the future of African swimming."
Asked what Africa must do to get more countries in the mix both on the continental level as well as at the World Aquatics Championships and Olympic Games, he insisted a "very aggressive" development program emphasizing collaboration will be critical for the future of CANA.
"What I intend to do is try to have assemblies of the relatively top swimmers," he said, admitting some professionals would refuse to participate in such collective events.
"Nevertheless, the majority will take part, especially before the Olympic Games and before the World Aquatics Championships when, a week in advance, CANA could have a clinic and get-together of all the swimmers because there will be role models and one swimmer will learn from another swimmer from another country."
Ramsamy pointed to one such camp for African athletes conducted in Atlanta en route to the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Games.
"That’s what I intend to do," he said.
Reported by Matthew Grayson
20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.
Recent Articles
Sinner-Alcaraz, the duel that came to succeed the three phenomenons
Beyond the final result, Roland Garros left the feeling that the Italian and the Spaniard will shape the great duel that came to help us through the duel for the end of the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic era.
Table tennis: Brazil’s Bruna Costa Alexandre will be Olympic and Paralympic in Paris 2024
She is the third in her sport and the seventh athlete to achieve it in the same edition; in Santiago 2023 she was the first athlete with disabilities to compete at the Pan American level and won a medal.
Rugby 7s: the best player of 2023 would only play the medal match in Paris
Argentinian Rodrigo Isgró received a five-game suspension for an indiscipline in the circuit’s decisive clash that would exclude him until the final or the bronze match; the Federation will seek to make the appeal successful.
Rhonex Kipruto, owner of the world record for the 10000 meters on the road, was suspended for six years
The Kenyan received the maximum sanction for irregularities in his biological passport and the Court considered that he was part of a system of “deliberate and sophisticated doping” to improve his performance. He will lose his record and the bronze medal at the Doha World Cup.
Katie Ledecky spoke about doping Chinese swimmers: “It’s difficult to go to Paris knowing that we’re going to compete with some of these athletes”
The American, a seven-time Olympic champion, referred to the case of the 23 positive controls before the Tokyo Games that were announced a few weeks ago and shook the swimming world. “I think our faith in some of the systems is at an all-time low,” he said.
