Gold for Swimmers in Lusaka

South Africa’s women’s freestyle 4x50m relay team has won gold at the Zone VI Games.

Kayla Ferriera, Amy Peens, Kirsty Muller and Emma Chelius finished in 1:50:00 to win their contest in a meeting record time.

In terms of the individual heats, all the swimmers qualified for the final in their respective styles. But, South Africa are only allowed two swimmers in each final. The two representatives will be decided later on Saturday afternoon.

Meanwhile, the South African Women’s U20 soccer team Basetsana picked up a hard-fought 1-0 win over hosts Zambia at the Nkoloma Stadium on Friday.

The match was hailed as the feature fixture of the opening day, as it followed the opening ceremony and was played in front of a huge home crowd. But Basetsana spoiled the party as they emerged as the victors after a physical game.

Both teams struggled to hold on to possession and lacked composure in front of goal, but the visitors’ threat at the set pieces created their breakthrough. Shortly before half-time, South Africa edged ahead thanks to midfielder Tshegofatso Makinta’s effort. She latched on to defender Meagan Newman’s long free kick and beat the Zambian goalkeeper from close range.

Zambia had most of the momentum in the second half, but couldn’t turn their ascendancy into goals. Goalkeeper Kaylin Swart proved to be a hero for South Africa.

The hosts eventually found the back of the net – from a rebound following a great save from Swart – but the score was disallowed because of offside. Basetsana did well to hold on for the win.