The Guyana Amateur Swimming Association (GASA) on Saturday last made a left move by electing former national hockey player Dwayne Scott as its president.
Scott was elected during the association’s Biannual General Meeting and elections at the National Aquatic Centre in Lilliendaal, on the East Coast of Demerara.
Scott replaces Brian Goodridge, who did not seek a second term. The new aquatic boss will be at the helm of the association for the next two years and has set his sights on fostering a close relationship with the sport’s international body, FINA.
“The most important this for me is to get activities up and running again, which is our immediate focus, it will be a challenge but we are going to take some guidelines from FINA on how to implement that,” Scott told Stabroek Sport.
The newly-elected president explained that although there are currently no competition guidelines as a result of the ongoing global pandemic, FINA has been disseminating information on how to resume training in a safe manner.
“We do have online programmes along with back to pool guidelines from FINA on how we can approach it, they have given us advice on lane restrictions and lane sizes to work with; the coaches are familiar with this. FINA has been conducting online coaching programmes and we have been involved in that.”
Scott also intends to work closely with the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, particularly to restore the Lilliendaal facility which has been out of commission since the COVID-19 outbreak here in March.
“We have some other issues where the pool is out of commission but we are going to engage the Ministry of Sports to have that addressed,” he noted while adding: “improving the relationship with the Sports Ministry and other stakeholders in and around Guyana. I would specifically like to see an expansion of the sport beyond Georgetown and Linden, the talent pool around the country is evident and as a body, we need to find those talents and nurture them and get them participating at the highest level.”
Meanwhile, in explaining his involvement in swimming, Scott said he has been involved in swimming for the last four years. He is the Vice President of Sea Otters Swim Club of which his daughter, Gabriella Scott, is an active swimmer. He also has a six-year-old son, who is a keen competitor, as well.
