Seychelles grabs 2 gold medals on Day 1 of ANOCA Games in Zone 7

Smythe (middle) gave Seychelles its first gold medal of the games in the 400m freestyle race for girls. (Seychelles News Agency)

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(Seychelles News Agency) – Team Seychelles won two gold medals, one silver, and three bronze medals on the first day of the 2024 Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA ) Games for Zone 7, taking place in the island nation from May 6 to 11 for athletes under 18 years of age.

Both medals came in swimming from Angelina Smythe and Thierry Payet, who dominated their races to take first place.  

Smythe gave Seychelles its first gold medal of the games in the 400m freestyle race for girls, which she won in 4 minutes 53.34 seconds. In second place with a silver medal was Mauritian Chloe Ah Chip in 4 minutes 55.97seconds followed by another Mauritian, Alysson Yene Teck, in 5 minutes 00.47 seconds.  

“I am really and happy with my performance today. I just want to keep trying my best and we’ll see what happens,” Smythe told reporters.

Thierry Payet dominated the boys’ 400m freestyle, winning gold in 4 minutes 21.06 seconds. Mauritius took silver with Matteo Tin Wan Yuen in 4 minutes 26.31 seconds followed in third place for a bronze medal by Madagascar’s Baritiana Andirampenomanana in 4  minutes 29.47 seconds.

“I wasn’t expecting to win today, because my entry time was the third fastest among the athletes, but training has gone really well, so I anticipated a good result today,” said Payet.

Seychelles claimed a silver medal again through the efforts of Angelina Smythe. She finished second in the girls’ 100m backstroke event in 1 minute 14.37 seconds behind Malagasy swimmer  Andrianaivo Ony, who took the gold medal in 1 minute 11.32 seconds.

Team Seychelles won an additional three bronze medals. Nael Barreau came out third in the girls’ 50m breaststroke, and both the girls’ and boys 4x100m freestyle relay teams finished third.  

After the first day of the ANOCA Games, Madagascar leads the medals standings with a total of 8 medals – 5 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze with Seychelles in second place. Mauritius is third with 10 medals, 1 gold, 5 silver and 4 bronze medals.