Luanda - The Angolan Swimming Federation (FAN) is to present this Tuesday, in Luanda Province, the 16th edition of the Absolute African Championships at the Sapiens Institute.
The event will be held for the first time in Angola, from the 30 April to 5 May this year at the Alvalade swimming pool in the country's capital.
Angola is organising this competition after having taken part in six editions, namely in 1990 (Tunisia), 1998 (Kenya), 2008 (South Africa), 2012 (Kenya), 2021 (Ghana) and 2022 (Tunisia), thus marking its seventh participation in this year's edition.
Angola becomes the second African Swimming Confederation (CANA) zone IV country to hold the biggest event in the sport on the continent, after South Africa, which did it again in 2008 in Johannesburg and in 2016 in Bloemfontein.
Overall, it is the ninth host nation of the African Cup of Nations (CAN), after Egypt (1974, 1982, 2002), Tunisia (1977, 1990, 2022), Morocco (2004, 2010), Kenya (1998, 2012), South Africa (2008, 2016), Senegal (2006), Algeria (2018) and Ghana (2021).
The national squad reached their highest point at the 1998 edition in Nairobi, Kenya, where they came third in the overall medals chart, due to the unprecedented display of Nádia Cruz, who won two silver medals and a bronze.
However, Angola's highest number of medals came in 2021, in Accra, Ghana, where, in a single edition, the team won six bronze medals, one each by Salvador Gordo (junior), Catarina Sousa and four other swimmers.
The South African athletes, who have won the most titles on the continent with 10, are the champions of the latest edition held in Tunis, Tunisia.
JAD/VAB/MRA/jmc
