Swimming – Eswatini’s swimming prodigy Luca Fraser and the Eswatini Swimming Association (ESA) are at loggerheads, this newspaper has reliably learnt.
It is understood that an intense internal dispute is threatening to split the two parties, with the swimming sensation dissatisfied with how he has been treated following a misunderstanding in Egypt last month.
The ESA, on the other hand, in its wisdom, decided to discipline its brightest and most successful star for expressing his reluctance to continue sharing a room with an official during the recent international competition.
According to sources, the issue has left the young swimmer terribly disappointed and frustrated, especially after he was withdrawn from competing. His parents have also been dragged into the matter, which may soon spill over into the international domain.
Sources close to the matter have revealed that the bone of contention is that Fraser was reluctant to share a hotel room with one of the team officials during the continental showpiece last month, whom he alleged snored unbearably, and affected his rest and preparation ahead of crucial races.
It is said he informed the team manger that he could not get much sleep, and explained his frustration but the manager allegedly denied him options and solutions to his frustration.
With his pleas falling on deaf ears, the teenager reportedly turned to his guardian – his mother – for help. The guardian, who was also in Egypt for the tournament, secured a room with his family in a separate hotel after attempts to secure or share a room with another swimmer in the team hotel failed.
But instead of understanding, ESA officials are believed to have taken exception to this arrangement. It is reported that the swimmer was reprimanded by the team manager for his actions.
The tension reportedly reached boiling point when, after the accommodation fallout, Fraser was allegedly ordered to leave a training session the next day. Even more shocking was that he was allegedly withdrawn from competing in what would have been his final event of the championships, in the 50m breaststroke on May 3.
Since that fateful day, the relationship between the country’s top junior swimmer and the swimming association has taken a dive, with Fraser yet to feature in any ESA-sanctioned event since the incident.
Efforts to get a comment from ESA proved futile at the time of compiling this report, as the association’s representatives remained tight-lipped about the matter.
The secretary general said it was an internal matter.
As things stand, the young star who has been flying Eswatini’s flag high in the pool now finds himself caught in troubled waters on dry land with his swimming future hanging in limbo unless fences are mended.
However, it was established that the association has written to the star following the incident, taking a firm stand on the issue.
Eswatini Observer Press Reader
