Humphrey shines with eight national short-course records
The Namibia Aquatic Sports Federation (NASFED) national short-course swimming championship, sponsored by Bank Windhoek, concluded on a high note on Sunday after five thrilling days of intense aquatic competition.
Hosted at Swakopmund’s The Cube, the action-packed showcase brought together 264 elite athletes from 12 clubs across the country.
With a massive total of 2,479 event entries, the championship delivered high-calibre races, remarkable personal bests, and multiple national records.
Highest FINA points performances
Jessica Humphrey (17) of the Aqua club established herself as the standout swimmer of the meet with a stellar 27.36 seconds in the women’s 50m backstroke.
This blazing time earned Humphrey 784 FINA points, marking the highest single-swim score of the entire championship.
Humphrey displayed unmatched versatility by setting national benchmark standards (age 17-18) across a range of events, namely the 50m, 100 and 200 backstroke, the 50 and 100 butterfly, 50, 100 and 200 freestyle, and the individual medley.
Humphrey’s string of new national open women’s records were set in the 50 freestyle (25.97), 100 freestyle (56.35), 200 freestyle (2:04.25), 50 backstroke (27.36), 100 backstroke (59.38), 50 butterfly (27.97), 100 butterfly (1:01.44) and 100 individual medley (1:03.37).
Except for two records previously held by Sonja Adelaar, Humphrey was the open record holder in the other six events, and in all cases made significant time improvements.
Humphrey, who is building up to the short-course world championship in Beijing during December, expressed appreciation to her parents, her long-time coach Jean Michael Leitner and the NNOC who recently awarded her a scholarship.
National open records
Also from Aqua club, Luke Beukes (age group 15-16) led the men’s FINA points performances, with an explosive showcase in the men’s 100 freestyle. Beukes touched the wall in 48.74 seconds, earning himself 778 FINA points and proving his elite standing.
Beukes lowered national age marks across the sprint disciplines, establishing new standards in the 50m and 100m freestyle, as well as the 50m butterfly. The latter (24.37) is a Namibian men’s open record, previously held by Oliver Durand.
In the distance events, Madison Bergh (17-18 years) delivered an endurance masterclass, breaking her own national women’s open records in the 800 freestyle (9:05.46) and 1500 freestyle (17:26.46).
Oliver Durand twice improved his own former men’s open 100 individual medley record to now stand at 55.76 seconds.
Ludorum awards
The multi-discipline competition pushed swimmers to gather points across multiple events to secure top honours in the coveted ludorum standings.
The senior victrix ludorum honours were captured by Jessica Humphrey with 4319 points, ahead of Madison Bergh (3801) and Roselinda Matyayi (3786 points).
The senior victor ludorum honours went to Luke Beukes with 4208 points, followed by Oliver Durand (4205) and Nathan Bock (3734).
The junior division saw rising stars claim top honours, with Patrick Durand (180 points) awarded as junior victor ludorum ahaead of Oelof Badenhorst (138) and Julian Emi (130.5 points).
The junior victrix ludorum race saw Roze van Wyk in first place with 180 points, Aaliyah Losper in second with 168 points and Mika Fourie in third with 111 points.
Masters records
Ruth Hornickel broke two national marks in the Women’s 25-44 category, setting a new 50m freestyle record in 30.94 seconds and a 50m butterfly mark in 37.58 seconds.
Veteran Lucy Louw rewrote the record books in the women’s 45 & Over category, touching in 3:06.96 in the 200m backstroke.
Dentie Louw claimed a new national record in the men’s 25-44 category by finishing the 200m butterfly in 3:13.45.
NASFED public relations officer Bernadette Freyer-Swartz commended the participants, technical staff, and supporting audience for making the championship a resounding success.
“The scale of participation and the dedication shown by our swimmers, coaches, families, and sponsors reflect the immense growth of aquatic sports in Namibia,” she noted.
“Every single stroke in that pool demonstrated the heart and commitment of our athletes," added Bernadette Freyer-Swartz.
