The National Swimming Federation (RSF) has disclosed that about 140 swimming will take part in this year’s genocide memorial tournament, scheduled for Saturday, April 16, in Kigali. The one-day event will be held at Green Hills Academy. Speaking to this publication on Thursday, RSF Secretary-General, James Bazatsinda, highlighted that the objective of the competition – in its ninth edition – is to pay tribute to the victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. “Sport does not only promote health and well-being, it also fosters tolerance, mutual understanding, and peace,” he said. Participants will compete under three categories; elite men, elite women and juniors. They will be vying for medals in butterfly, freestyle, breaststroke, and relay styles. The tournament will also feature as qualifiers for the 2022 World Swimming Championships to be held in Budapest, Hungary, from June 18 to July 3, and for the Commonwealth Games Birmingham, United Kingdom, in July. Many sports personalities, including players and administrators, were killed during the Genocide against the Tutsi, a culmination of decades of systematic division and hate propagated by the pre-1994 regimes.
