Swimming stakeholders have questioned the criteria used to select swimmers for the Commonwealth Games set to start on July 28 in Birmingham, England.
Eight swimmers were provisionally selected before being reduced to four after trials were conducted last month at the Moi International Sports Centre (MISC), Kasarani.
USA-based Emily Muteti, Imara Bella Thorpe, Ridhwan Mohammed, and Monyo Maina got the nod but there has been a hue and cry over the selection process
The stakeholders said they do not see the point of sidelining some swimmers yet Commonwealth allows them to take part in several events.
"Unlike the Olympics and World Championships, where swimmers are restricted to one event, in Commonwealth, they are free to take part in as many events as possible," stakeholders noted.
Stakeholders averred that the Fina ranking system should have been used to select the swimmers for the Club Games and not the trials.
According to the latest Fina rankings in the girls' category, Maria Brunlehner and Becky Kamau are ranked highly in their respective categories.
Brunlehner has 685 points in the 50 m freestyle, 635 points in the 100m freestyle, 654 points in the 50m breaststroke, and 662 points in the 100m breaststroke.
Kamau, who is based in the United States has accumulated 675 points in the 200 individual medley, 655 points in 50m breaststroke, and 644 in the 100m event.
Mohammed Ridhwan is the top-ranked boy on the team with 679 points in the 100m freestyle, 653 points in the 200m, 630 points in the 50m butterfly, and 602 points in 50m freestyle.
The stakeholders said it was painful subjecting swimmers like Muteti and Brunhelner among others to long flights to come and take part in the trials without being reimbursed for the airfare and accommodation during the trials.
Besides the Fina ranking, Brunhelner won gold at the Africa Swimming Championship in 2019 and set a new swimming record. She was also best in the 100m freestyle three months ago during the Western Conference Collegiate Championships in the USA.
On the other hand, Maria and Emily were in the 4x 100m relay team that won bronze at 2019 All African Games in Morocco.
Becky Kamau has also been in fine form at the Atlantic 10 Conference Championships in the USA, winning bronze in her last outing. Efforts to get a comment from National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOCK) secretary-general, Francis Mutuku were fruitless
