Dealings with brutal and murderous dictators are never easy but if ever there was a cry for help worthy of the attention of Fina's international development programme it is Zimbabwe, home to one of the world's leading swimmers of the moment, Kirsty Coventry.

Coventry, based at Auburn in the United States, recently visited communities back home to encourage participation in swimming and improvement in local facilities. Good for her.

Time for the authorities in Zimbabwe to listen (unlikely as that is to actually happen).

Down in the high-density suburb of St Mary's in Chitungwiza, the community's children enjoy their pool. The All Africa news service describes it as a muddy stream, but it is a stream that constitutes an aquatic paradise in a land of so little where so little is being done o improve the lot of people. At this point, some would say that swimming, surely, is the least of their problems. Never underestimate the power of sport, of dreams, to lift a nation and ts spirit (not that Mugabe is into lifting spirits, of course).

As All Africa puts it: "The kids' crazy shouts and yells are heard from a distance as they leap into the air to take headlong plunges into the dirty water. Some dream of competing in swimming galas with other children of their age or even at the Olympics when they grow up, but that day may never come.

While the children from well-to-do families play games in tennis courts and swim in well-maintained pools, children of high-density suburbs in Chitungwiza and Harare are not so fortunate. Poverty and poor maintenance of existing facilities have resulted in children from the high-density suburbs heading for nearby muddy streams."

The Herald in Zimbabwe poses the following question: "what happened to the once popular and well-maintained swimming pools where thousands of kids crowded away from mischief?"

Their answer: some of those public swimming pools are now dumping sites while others are covered in green algae and are breeding grounds for mosquitoes. The City of Harare, which has more than a fifth of Zimbabwe's population, has only 13 swimming pools - three in the high-density suburbs of Mufakose, Highfield and Mbare - and 10 in the low-density suburbs. After independence, no swimming pools were constructed except for the Chitungwiza Aquatic Complex built in 1994 for several million US dollars.

Two years after its construction, the glamorous complex accommodated the 1996 All Africa Games. It was descibed as as "marvel". Apart from the swimming pool, there are also grounds for indoor hockey and handball at the aquatic complex. But sadly, the giant Olympic-sized complex has turned into a white elephant facing wholesale abuse 10 years after its construction. It has now been turned into an entertainment venue for musical shows and parties.

"We don't even remember when the pool was last used for swimming," said a Chitungwiza resident, Tapiwa Chasara.

In Harare, of the existing 13 pools, only six are functional, with all the three pools in the high-density suburbs dry and not functional.

The city council says it appreciates the need for pools to be maintained but cites financial constraints as a major setback.

"There are sewage and water shortage problems, among other things, that need urgent attention so at the end of the day recreational things become the last option after all these matters are solved," said Mr Cuthbert Chakanetsa, who manages all the pools in the capital.

A ray of hope: Hartley Swimming Pool in Mbare is being renovated, the painting is done and new pipes are being fitted.

Until those pipes gush with clean water in which the average citizen can swim, Coventry's success is more an America triumph than one that Zimbabwe can claim for herself.