By Ravendra Kishore
Stephanie Fraser is a household name in Guyana among the followers of sport and the name Nicholas Fraser is fast becoming one.The mother and son combination are taking swimming in Guyana to new levels.Guyana might not yet have a 50-metre pool but what they do have is a dedicated pair of individuals who are bent on passing on their experience and skills to young swimmers and those who want to become swimmers.
On Saturday, Stabroek Sport paid a visit to Colgrain Pool to watch the swimmers going through their paces under the watchful eyes of coach Nicholas Fraser, who serves as coach of the Dorado Speed Swim Club.
Nicholas Fraser said he was happy to share his pool skills with youngsters who want to become swimmers.
According to him, there are swimmers who are trained in two different levels, Level One, which caters for beginners and Level Two which is the next step up.
In the first level, the swimmers are given basic training including swimming with their heads under the water so as to learn the techniques of breathing underwater.
This class is held for one hour Monday to Fridays from 17.30 hrs. The coaches are Shyka Gonsalves and Joan Lowe. In the second level, the swimmers go through endurance paces and this course is conducted by the mother and son team.
The Frasers carry the swimmers through their daily paces from 18:30 hrs for one hour on weekdays so as to prepare them for competitive swimming.
Nicholas Fraser added that private classes are available all year round under the theme “Learn to Swim” and the cost is $2,000-$3,500 per month.
After this initial training the participants are free to join the Colgrain Pool where they will also learn advanced skills at no cost.
At present there are three clubs, apart from Dorado that practice at Colgrain and these are Orca, Silver Shark and Dolphin clubs.
Meanwhile, noting Gu-yana’s climatic conditions, Fraser pointed out that swimming goes on all-year round and anyone who possesses basic swimming skills or has the urge to enter the pool is free to join the Dorado Level One programme which at present has about 30-35 registered participants.
