Tory Pragassa shatters his own record at Kasarani pool

International Tory Pragassa signaled his return by breaking his own Boys' 16 and over 50m Long Course (LC) National Record as the Kenya Swimming Federation National LC Championships that ended Sunday at Kasarani.

Pragassa, who had taken leave from competition for over 18 months, glided to victory in 29.84 seconds to erase his previous record of 28.91 set at the same course on February 28, 2015.

The Poseidon Swimming Club’s swimmer, who has represented Kenya in several international events including the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games, edged out Otters Swim Club’s Ibrahim Omar to second place in 33.56.

Paul Kioko from Bandari Swim Club tapped the wall in 33.96 to settle third in the two-day event.

Pragassa sealed his double with victory in 100m breaststroke in 1:09.10, beating Omar and Kioko to second and third places in 1:18.56 and 1:22.53 respectively.

Pragassa’s coach John Wroe was delighted about his performance saying his swimmers had realistic targets for the future upon his return.

“He has been working hard in training to improve on his technical side. He is focused and driven,” said Wroe, adding that Pragassa’s target is to qualify for the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Pragassa, 25, competed at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, but did not qualify for the semi-finals of any of his events, finishing 26th in both the 50m breaststroke and 100m breaststroke heats, and 39th in the 50m freestyle heats.

Braeburn Swimming Club’s Risha de Guzman won the Boys' 14-15 50m LL breaststroke in 33.69,  finishing ahead of Bandari’s Mohammed Sheikh in 34.50.

Hashim Sheikh timed 5:51.64 to claim victory in Boys' 12-13 400m freestyle as Palash Muishal from Otters clocked 5:55.62 to settle second.

Duini Caffini from Bandari eased to victory in Girls' 12-13 200m individual medley in 2:54.28 with Natasha Thuranira coming second in 3:15.78.

Braeburn’s Hedvig Lycke timed 2:36.20 to prevail in Girls' 14-15 200m freestyle, beating Katio Karani of Otters in 2:53.51.