The local swimming fraternity welcomed a new development with Guyana’s first attendance at the biennial FINA (World Swimming Federation) World Short Course Championships and the GASA crafted its five-year plan as well as selected a new executive.
Brittany van Lange and Ronaldo Rodrigues did not win any medals in their respective events but both swimmers produced an unprecedented number of personal best in the races despite the fact that they had been unable to train at the Castellani Pool due to electrical problems.
It was a year marked by a number of disappointments no doubt led by the uncompleted 50m Olympic-sized swimming pool at Liliendaal. Also, the Colgrain Swimming Pool which is used by all four of the nation’s active swimming clubs had been closed for the entire latter half of the year effectively calling a halt to the clubs’ programmes. However, national swimmers were allowed a limited amount of hours to train in the short course 25m Castellani pool. Out of desperation some swimmers took on the out-of-pocket expense and travelled abroad to continue their training.
Their sacrifices paid off as Guyana was able to obtain 12 medals including nine individual medals from five athletes and three medals for team events at the Goodwill Games held in Suriname in August. Additionally, according to a report from the Guyana Amateur Swimming Association (GASA) local athletes broke nine national records at the meet.
Noelle Smith registered four new records and broke the most records which complemented her two silver and two bronze medals at the meet. Smith also grabbed the age group award for the girls’ 15 – 17 category. Van Lange’s performance was also noteworthy. A repeat gold medallist at the event, van Lange gained two gold medals in the 100m and 200m freestyle events and for her age group – girls’ 13 – 14 – she gained third place. Guyana also recorded a major achievement when it sent a 21-member contingent, its largest ever, to an overseas meet.
Fifteen-year-old Jessica Stephenson also recorded an excellent performance at the CARIFTA Swimming Championship in Kingston, Jamaica in April. The Trinidad based Guyanese gained two gold medals and a silver medal in 100m breaststroke, all in personal best timings. Stephenson was also selected to represent Guyana at the Central America and the Caribbean Games held in Puerto Rico from July – August, and then for the Commonwealth Games that was held in India in October. She produced personal best times at both meets.
Internationally, Henk Lowe was afforded the opportunity to swim at the Youth Olympic Games held in Singapore in August. A number of swimmers were also able to end the year in good standing with their performance at the Amateur Swimming Association of Trinidad and Tobago Invitational Meet that was held last year. Stephenson gained three gold medals and Olympian Niall Roberts, two silver medals. All swimmers also recorded their personal best times.
Not much effort was put into fundraising thus swimming depended largely on personal finances. Other than the international events, some of which the expenses were offset by other associations many times swimmers were made to pay their way to attend events.
Locally, the GASA was able to pull off a number of meets including the Goodwill Games trials and the National Championships. However, being unable to host their inter-club meet was another blow to the sport. At the administrative level, it held its AGM and ushered in a new executive as well as crafted its by-laws and completed its five-year plan.
