With preparation for the Commonwealth Games firmly underway, Guyana’s lone swimmer for the October 3-14 event, Jessica Stephenson has stepped up her training with a two-week session at South Florida Aquatic Club in Coral Springs.

Stephenson, who won three gold medals at this year’s Carifta Games, is working directly under Coach Michael Lohberg, who is widely acknowledged to be one of the top breast stroke coaches in the state.

Stephenson will be competing for Guyana at the Commonwealth Games next month in New Delhi, India in the 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke events.

In an e-mail Stephenson noted, “Although the time I spent at Coral Springs was short, the experience was fantastic. To get in the pool each day with Olympians and World Champions inspired me to work even harder to ensure that in the not too distant future, I will be up there with them.

“Coach Lohberg was so generous in helping me and his love of swimming and his swimmers was so evident, I felt privileged to have been there with them,” the teenager added.

Lohberg is a renowned Olympic coach who has qualified swimmers for every Olympic Games from 1984. According to the e-mail he had eight swimmers who competed at 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, including 12-time Olympic medallist Dara Torres.

Another of Coach Lohberg’s swimmers, world 100m breast stroke champion and Olympian Vlad Polyakov  was also kind enough to spend time with the 15 year-old and encouraged her in her breast stroke pullouts.