Ebola fears have struck a second major international swimming competition this week, as La Confederation Africaine de Natation (African Swimming Federation) has postponed the African Swimming Championships that were set to begin next week.
This comes on the heels of one swimmer being barred from competition at the Youth Olympic Games over similar concerns.
The Championships were due to be hosted in Dakar, Senagal. While Senegal is not one of the West African countries that have been at the heart of the outbreak (Guinea, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and Liberia, according to the CDC), it does have a significant border with Guinea.
According to the CDC, Senegal has had 1 labratory confirmed case of Ebola, though as of the last update to the CDC’s numbers on August 31st, that case did not result in a death. In total through August, there were 1,848 suspected case deaths in what’s the largest Ebola outbreak in recorded history.
No date for a makeup has yet been announced. The African Championships are held every other year, and in 2012 there were 16 participating nations. South Africa won 29 out of the 40 awarded medals in the last version; would-be 2014 hosts Senegal added a medal of their own from Malick Fall, who won the men’s 100 breaststroke in 28.57, and Kenya’s Jason Dunford won 6 total medals as well.
