Lukenya Dolphins rule the waters in invitational meet

Lukenya Dolphins dominated the Private and Preparatory International School Sports Association (PIPSAA) Kenya invitational swimming championship held at Kasarani. Dolphins topped both the girls’ and boys’ categories.

In the girls’ division, they amassed a commanding 2,884 points, far ahead of Moi Educational Centre with 1,700 and Mt. Kenya Academy with 1,451.

The boys followed suit, collecting 1,797 points to leave St. Mary’s School, Nairobi, in second on 1,350 and Mt. Kenya Academy in third with 1,136.

Among the outstanding swimmers was Ndanu Cecilia, who stormed to victory in the 100-metre Individual Medley. She clocked 2:03.19, edging out Chebet Michelle ( 2:04.53), who took silver and teammate Trish Amber, who won bronze in 2:05.12 Cecilia, who was delighted with the victory, said, "The competition was strong, but that only motivated me to push harder. I enjoyed every moment of it,” she said.

Coach Ben Okoth was full of praise for his charges. “My team showed determination, hard work and steady improvement in our times. We are not done! We have just scratched the surface, and we hope to get better,” noted Okoth.

The stage now shifts to Mombasa, where the PIPSSA National Championships will unfold on October 11-12, and Okoth expects tougher opposition. “ We go back to the drawing board and train harder and go all out to perform well,” added Okoth. Apart from swimming, the event at the coast will have football, Skating, basketball, taekwondo, archery, modern dance and chess among others.

The 16-year-old Tomlinson Chad of Mt. Kenya Academy clocked 14.56 seconds to win the 25-metre freestyle. The performance underlined both his raw pace and his composure under testing conditions.

“The weather kept changing, which made things tricky, but I kept my focus,” he explained, already looking ahead to lowering his times in the future. The two-day showdown attracted 500 swimmers representing 40 schools and clubs across the region.