August 24, 2016 By Sahr Morris Jr.
Head coach of Sierra Leone national swimming team, Bobson Mansaray has called on government and sporting authorities to start an early preparation for the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia.
Coach Mansaray, who watched his two swimmers – Bunturabie Jalloh and Osman Kamara – break and set new 50m Freestyle national records at the just concluded 2016 Rio Olympic Games in Brazil, believes only early preparation would help Sierra Leone challenge others for potential medals in the upcoming Games.
According to the swimming boss: “Unlike the Olympic Games which is a must and demand that athletes should secure a qualification timing before going to the Games, the Commonwealth Games does not need any qualifiers.
“So we need to get our act together, the government, sports administrators and the athletes. Early preparation is needed for us to succeed in Australia. I am appealing to the government through the Sports Ministry to start hanging heads for better and early preparations.”
Meanwhile, Coach Mansaray has expressed his delight with his swimmers’ performances at the Rio Games although they failed to make it to the semis-finals of their respective 50m Freestyle hits.
He said: “The performance of the two swimmers was great and speaks volume. I am very proud of both swimmers though not satisfied, but they performed well and their approach to the competition was one of the secret which enabled them to break the national records.”