The Guyana Amateur Swimming Association (GASA) is to select two of its junior swimmers to participate at the International Swimming Federation (FINA) Short Course World Swimming Championships in the United Arab Emirates.
GASA secretary, Dr. Karen Pilgrim, in a telephone interview with Stabroek Sport on Saturday, said the association had already identified swimmers for the December 15-19 event. She said since it was a short course, 25m, GASA intended to give younger swimmers the opportunity to gain international experience instead of senior swimmers who should be aiming to boost their performances to compete in major events in the 50m races. She said the immediate focus of swimmers such as Niall Roberts, Kevon DeMoura, Jaime Jabar, Joseph Seguina and Jessica Stephenson, should be qualifying for next year’s Pan American Games set for October in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Dr. Pilgrim also pointed out that the senior swimmers would be expected to attend the Amateur Swimming Association of Trinidad and Tobago Invitational swim meet which would coincide with the holding of the short course championships as it runs from December 16-19. The senior swimmers should be aiming to meet the qualifying times for the Pan Am Games at this meet.
While she declined to divulge the identity of the swimmers selected for the FINA meet she did indicate that GASA will send one male and one female swimmer.
“Up until recently our top swimmers have tended to be males but recently the females have been coming up. So we’ve made a definite decision to include females on the team to encourage them, it is a distinction on our part to try to include the females wherever possible,” she added. Dr.Pilgrim also acknowledged that while Stephenson recently represented Guyana at the Commonwealth Games, she resides in Trinidad and Tobago, and said that the GASA wanted to encourage local female swimmers.
“Our thinking is that we should encourage our females, we have Jessica but she is not coming out from Guyana, and so we want to give the opportunities to those coming out from Guyana to let them know that they can be in Guyana and make it to world events,” she added.
This will be Guyana’s first year attending the FINA championships as in the past GASA could not meet the financial burden.
Dr. Pilgrim said that in the past years the group had never received sufficient funding to be able to send a participant and even though meals and accommodation are usually covered, the airfare was usually a heavy impediment. However, this time around the teams’ attendance is secure as the funding offered by FINA has proved to be adequate. “FINA will cover accommodation and meals and they are giving us a fair amount for the airline fee, they tell us way in advance the amount of sponsorship we will be getting. Each country from a particular region [of the world] would get a certain amount to assist with the airfare, and we know exactly what we’re getting way in advance,” she said.
“I don’t know if we will have to put something more because the route will determine the airfare, and what visas we’ll need, so we’ll have all these little technicalities to deal with. But this is the first time that we’ve had enough funding to attend the event,” Pilgrim added.
The selected swimmers will attend the event along with one official.