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Allen Khumalo, Sports Reporter
TWENTY Zimbabwean swimmers have qualified for the South African Junior National Championships that will be held in the port city of Durban in March.

The swimmers clocked qualifying times for the Durban meet at the Senior National Championships that ended at Les Brown Pool in Harare on Sunday.

In a post on SwimZim website, the Zimbabwe Swimming Control Board said the number is an improvement on last year’s 15 and they were confident that a few more swimmers would make the grade in February.

However, efforts to get a list of the swimmers were frustrated by Zimbabwe Swimming Control Board president Lorna Riley, who accused Chronicle Sport of exposing a doping scandal plaguing the sport in the country.

“You guys cannot have it both ways. You can’t write something negative about us and then expect me to give you the list of my swimmers. Of course, some of the stuff that you published in that article is true, but some of it is not.

“I am very disappointed with you. Some of my swimmers are still angry because you tarnished their images as most people think that they are bad,” said Riley.

“I’m not giving you the list. I would rather give it to the Daily News or other publications because right now Zimpapers is not in my good books. You are not responsible journalists and you are doing nothing for my sport except tarnishing the image of swimming in the country,” she said.

Chronicle Sport published a story on December 8, 2016, exposing a doping scandal in Zimbabwe swimming whereby young swimmers were allegedly being injected with banned substances two weeks before major competitions.

The exposé showed that swimmers as young as 14 years were victims of the dark secret that sucked in a top medical centre in the capital which charged $140 per jab.

Investigations by Chronicle Sport revealed that swimmers were taking banned Vitamin B through what is known as the Intravenous (IV) infusions.

According to the World Anti-Doping Agency, Intravenous (IV) infusions have been included on the WADA List of Prohibited Substances and Methods under Section M2.

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