The second edition of the water-based competition will feature water sports events, local community events, and a few demonstration ones.
The National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) is set to host a water sports competition along Lake Victoria in Busia County, with dates to be announced soon.
NOC-K Secretary General, Francis Mutuku, announced that the decision comes following a courtesy call from Busia County Governor Paul Otuoma, where NOC-K appraised the Governor about its vision to play an active role under the national Blue Economy drive.
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In the edition, the team failed to reach a podium finish but they will be keen to change the script.
“We had a successful inaugural Beach Games recently in Kilifi County, where over 700 athletes converged for a festival of conventional and cultural beach sports events.
"The event gave us a major inspiration to further these sports that combine the informality and vibrancy of beaches along oceans, seas, lakes, and, even rivers to attract a very youthful and engaging audience,” Mutuku said.
The Busia edition of the water-based competition will feature water sports events, with significant integration of the local community events and a few demonstration ones.
This follows a technical assessment of the venues, where the water level was noted to have risen substantially following the heavy rains which have covered the target venue beaches.
The events to be participated in include open Water swimming, boat racing, hill/mountain climbing, and volleyball. Other events include boxing, judo, aquathlon, rowing, and 3X3 basketball.
On his part, Otuoma lauded NOC-K for considering the county for water sports. He observed that athletes from the grassroots will be inspired to pursue their dreams to the hallmark level of the Olympics.
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NOC-K Secretary General Francis Mutuku said they dream of hosting another edition on the shores of Lake Turkana.
Meanwhile, the upcoming Water Sports competition in Western Kenya is a continuation of NOC-K’s ongoing strategy to build and entrench meaningful collaborations with counties aimed at benefiting athletes’ development and success.
The drive to expand into beach and water sports aligns with international trends, where the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) will be hosting its second edition of the Africa Beach Games in Hammamet, Tunisia, and World Beach Games Bali, Indonesia in June and August this year, respectively.
Further, NOC-K seeks to use the event to spread sports and, rejuvenate the same at the county level and enhance collaborations with sports federations through an integrated approach to sports events.
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Omanyala is also confident that the country can host the Africa and World Beach Games.
They also aim to grow beach and water sports as part of national sporting programmes and promote sports tourism.