Swimming Genocide memorial tourney set for April 14
Tuesday, April 09, 2024
Swimmer Aragsan Mugabo during a past competition in Kigali. The 2024 edition of the Genocide memorial swimming competition will take placeat Gahanga Swimming Pool on April 14. Courtesy

The 2024 edition of the Genocide memorial swimming competition will take placeat Gahanga Swimming Pool on April 14, local swimming governing body (RSF) has confirmed.

Rwanda Swimming Federation president Pamela Girimbabazi disclosed that the tournament will serve not only as an occasion to commemorate victims who lost their lives during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

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"Sport does not only promote health and well-being, it also fosters tolerance, mutual understanding, and peace. Sport empowers, inspires and unites people," Girimbabazi told Times Sport.

"Swimming is not limited to the pool because it is a social sport," she added.

Many sports personalities, including players and administrators, lost their lives during the Genocide against the Tutsi, a culmination of decades of systematic division and hate propagated by the pre-1994 regimes.

The Swimming Genocide Memorial tournament will also serve as qualifying event for the 16th Absolute African Swimming and Open Water Championships which will take place from May 1-4 at the Alvalade swimming pool and on Mussulo Island in Luanda, Angola.

During the continental competition, each competitor's points and showing will count towards direct qualification for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.