ISLAMABAD, Aug 31: The first ever South Asian swimming and water polo championship starts here on Monday, with over 300 male and female swimmers from six countries, the Pakistan Swimming Federation (PSF) announced on Friday.

The competitions will be held at the Pakistan Sports Complex and the participating countries are: Pakistan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Maldives, the PSF secretary said.

According to him, Kiran, Ghulam Sakina, Adil Baig and Nasir Baig had strong chances of winning gold medals for the country.

All the four swimmers had participated in the Beijing Olympic qualifiers recently.

Meanwhile, a 10-day International Swimming Federation (FINA) coaching course concluded on Friday with 35 participants from across the country.

The course was run by Casaba Sos, a professor of swimming from Budapest, Hungary.

“The FINA coaching course will help the PSF to improve the standard of the sport in the country,” Sos remarked.—APP