The Brunei Amateur Swimming Association (BASA) has expanded opportunities to all age groups of swim enthusiasts including senior citizens after a 75-year-old participant has been confirmed as the eldest competitor in the upcoming Brunei Open & Masters Short Course Swimming Championships will be held this weekend from May 21 to May 22.

A total of 103 swimmers are expected to vie for various honours with 453 registered entries in the Open and Masters Categories at the 25m internationally certified swimming pool at the International School Brunei (ISB) in Salambigar.

"This is the first time that BASA is organising the Brunei Open in a short course (25 meter) pool, and this is also the first time a Masters category is being introduced. There will be 3 Masters Age Group categories: 25- 34 years old; 35-44 years old and 45 years old and above," said Awang Aziz Latip, President of BASA.

"It will be interesting as this championship has drawn out the senior swimmers among our midst to compete. For this championship, our youngest swimmer is 7 years old and our oldest swimmer is 75 years old," added Aziz Latip.

Eric Landa, National Swimming Coach, who set up the "Fit for Life" and "Swim Fit" programs in 2013 said, "With the senior swimmers competing, it is definitely a morale booster and encouragement to the younger ones. It is a sport activity which one can engage in even in the prime of your life and along the way, promote a healthy lifestyle."

The initiative to promote and encourage the involvement of swimmers of all age levels is in line with the set of programs that Eric Landa has created.

"I believe as a national association, BASA has a morale duty to look after swimmers of all ages. Fit for Life and Swim for Life is designed to encourage people of all ages to take up swimming for health, water safety and fun reasons," Landa added.

"I hope that in the future we will see more veterans and Masters swimmers actively getting involved in swimming as a healthy activity or like this weekend as a competitive fun activity.

"As this is the first Brunei Open and Masters Swimming Championship in a short course pool, any new timings set will be registered as a championships records or a national age group record," a press release stated.

Source:
@BRUDIRECT.COM

by BruDirect.com

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