No fewer than 100 swimmers will participate in the championship
No fewer than 100 swimmers are participating in the Fourth Chief of Naval Staff Open Swimming Competition in Calabar, Commodore Babalola Egbedina, the Chairman of the Main Organising Committee, said on Wednesday.
Egbedina , who was addressing a news conference in Calabar, said the championships would hold from July 11 to July 14.
The competition was jointly organised by the Nigerian Navy, Nigeria Swimming Federation (NSF) and the Cross River State Government.
?We are here to put the seal of continuity into the development of swimming in Nigeria,? Egbedina said.
The swimmers will participate in 32 events, consisting of 16 male events and an equal number in the female category.
The fixture shows that 28 individual events and four relay races will be competed for at the swimming pool of the U.J. Esuene Stadium, Calabar.
Participants are from state teams, the armed forces, police and some tertiary institutions with active swimming cells.
Egbedina said there would be cash prices for best male and female swimmers, trophies for overall teams and certificates to participants and winners, and the outstanding swimmers at the tourney would be selected to represent Nigeria at the 11th Senior Swimming Championship in Nairobi, Kenya in September.
The chairman added that the 10 top-ranking swimmers at the event would also represent the country in other international competitions in 2012.
Also speaking at the occasion, Babatunde Fatayi-Williams, President of the NSF, thanked the CNS, the Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Naval Command and the Cross River Government for providing an enabling environment for the championship.
He also called for media support for the championships to succeed, even as Dr. Jude Amadi, the Cross River State Director of Sports, assured that the State Government would ensure a successful championship as had been the case in the past.
Amadi said that in the recent past, the state had successfully hosted the Super Eagles, as well as trials for the London Olympics, and was poised to host the 2014 National Sports Festival.
