Return to gold: Passon takes first medal for Seychelles in backstroke at African Games

Passon won seven gold medals for Seychelles at the recent Indian Ocean Island Games in Mauritius. (Seychelles Nation)

(Seychelles News Agency) - Swimmer Felicity Passon has won the first gold medal for Seychelles on the first day of the swimming competition at the African Games taking place in Morocco.

Passon clocked 2 minutes 14.55 seconds to win the final of the ladies 200 metres backstroke on Wednesday. 

The winner of seven gold medals for Seychelles, an archipelago in the western Indian Ocean, at the recent Indian Ocean Island Games Passon is competing in the 50 metres butterfly on Thursday.

The gold medal of Passon has placed Seychelles in the 12^th place on the medal table led by Ethiopia with eight gold medals.

Three other Seychellois swimmers did not progress to the final: Kehma Elizabeth in the ladies 100 metres freestyle, Mathieu Bachmann in the men’s 100 metres freestyle and Samuele Rossi in the men’s 50 metres breaststroke.

In boxing in preliminaries of the men’s lightweight, Jovet Jean lost 5-0 to Shakul Samed from Ghana.

Team Seychelles at the Africa Games is made up of 35 athletes and 13 coaches and will compete in seven events -- athletics, badminton, boxing, canoeing, swimming, volleyball and weightlifting.

The African Games is a continental multi-sport event held every four years, organised by the African Union with the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa and the Association of African Sports Confederations. All of the competing nations are from the African continent.

The 12th edition of the games will serve as a qualifying step for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.