Madagascar: SWIMMING – ACNOA GAMES

Madagascar Aquatics will field eight swimmers, four boys and four girls, at the ACNOA Games in the Seychelles in early May. The competition is reserved for athletes under 18 years old.

Absent from the 13th African Games, swimmers from the Great Island will indeed be present at the upcoming ACNOA Games (Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa). The competition, reserved for swimmers under 18 years old from countries in the Indian Ocean region such as Madagascar, Mauritius, the Seychelles, the Comoros and Djibouti, will take place in the Seychelles from May 6 to 11. Madagascar Aquatics will field eight swimmers.

“Given that the deadline for submitting participants’ names was February 29, 2024, the federation had to adopt the following selection criteria: under 18 years old, having won medals at the 2023 Island Games in Madagascar, having the best ratings at the Island Games and the best ratings at the last ranking test 2022-2023,” said national technical director Voniarimanitra Andriamanantena. Eight swimmers, four boys and four girls, make up the team, most of whom have already represented the country at the World Championships in Israel in July and the African Championships in Mauritius in December 2023.

World qualifiers

The four swimmers are Baritiana Andriampenomanana, Tendry Tiavina Rakotobe, Aina Horavaka Emadisson, and Iriana Nathaniel Ratsimandresy. And the four girls are Ony Mbolasoa Andrianaivo, Anjanirina Miranda Razafindrandretsa, Marie-Ange Praxas Andrianaho, and Finaritra Razakatiana. The Malagasy delegation will be led by Mick Roland Raveloson, President of the Malagasy Swimming Federation. The national body also plans to field ten swimmers, five boys and five girls, at the Zone IV African Championship. Africa Aquatics has recently canceled the competition scheduled to take place from April 2 to 6 in Windhoek, Namibia. This zonal summit is thus postponed to September.

Serge Rasanda