By Michaelangelo Jacobus
Taking part in the cycling segment of the GTU’s National Cycling, Swimming & Track & Field Championships for the first time, District 9 emphatically won it with impressive performances from their cyclists at the inner circuit of the National Park yesterday.
What made the win even more outstanding, was the fact that the athletes had to share just two bicycles between themselves to compete in events.
So prolific were the Upper Takutu/Upper Essequibo athletes that they walked away with 14 Gold Medals, five Silvers and a Bronze. Meanwhile, over at the pool, North Georgetown (District 11) launched a staunch defence of their Swimming Championship, once again beating District 10 (Upper Demerara/Kwakwani) and collecting 32 Gold Medals, five Silvers and two Bronzes.
Especially outstanding at the cycling, were three female athletes, Lelian Jordan, Rayane Thomas and Maggie Joseph who accounted for seven gold medals by themselves. Jordan had a stellar showing winning three events while Thomas and Joseph had two wins apiece.
The day began with the Boys 5000M Open race which saw Ajani Cutting (District 14) overshadow usual frontrunner Alexander Leung (District 11) for the Gold. Leung had to settle for second while District 6’s Sidwell Sandy came in third.
Meanwhile, following that event, Thomas would set the tone of the day for District 9 with her first Gold Medal performance. It came in the Girls Open 3000M which she won by some distance. Settling for second and third were District 6’s Suria Duncan and District 10’s Syesha Sumner in that order.
Thomas’ other Gold medal would come in the Girls Open 2000M which she saw off just as easily as the first race. Yet again Duncan would finish behind for silver while Dasica Batson (District 15) took the bronze this time around.
Jordan, who competed in the U-14 category scored a hattrick of Gold Medals in the 1500M, 2000M and 1000M events. The latter event saw Thomas at her very best crossing the finish line without any competitor in sight.
In the same age category, Maggie Joseph picked up the slack in the other 800M and 400M events to win her gold medals.
Rebecca Loyola was another double gold medalist for District 9, in the Girls Open category. Her wins came over the 1000M and 1500M races.
Other Gold Medal performances came from Coreen Mandook (Girls U-16 2000M), Cecelia Berchman (Girls U-16 1500M), Dornel Ernest (Boys U-14 800M) and Gabriel Thomas (Boys U-14 2000M & 1500M).
Stabroek Sport spoke to Floyd Rodrigues, Team Manager of District 9’s cycling unit who shared some insights into his charges’ highly successful day.
Rodrigues, who is a teacher attached to Karasabai Secondary School in the South Parakaimas Mountain area, said that there was no special formula to his team’s winning performance. In fact, he revealed that there was a challenge in terms of the preparation time ahead of the championships and with respect to the type of equipment used during training.
“These athletes had a very short time to train, and during that period they didn’t use this type of bicycle (racing cycle), they had to train using the mountain bikes.
I think with the dedication and determination that they showed during the training, it inspired confidence in them. I think if they had trained using the correct cycles, they would have done much better and brought in much more gold medals. Despite that, I am very happy, they did very well for first-time participants and congratulations to them”, he declared.
Part of the reason that the District 9 athletes were successful and comfortable on the bicycles came down to a basic everyday part of their life according to Rodrigues. “Those students who are in the remote villages like Aishalton, Karasabai etc, they usually use bicycles to get to and from any given location. I think because of the regular use of bicycles, to be more specific, Monarch bicycles, to travel especially long distances, they have developed stamina that is needed in cycling”, he explained.
Looking ahead, Rodrigues said that the district would be aiming to do better and will have this year’s experience to bank on. Especially key to the team’s success according to a beaming Rodrigues, was the investment of the Regional Democratic Council and Ministry of Education department of Region 9 who invested into supplies, clothing and the necessary gear needed for the athletes to compete.
At the end of the day, District 9 amassed 225 points to clinch the cycling championship while District 10 had 201 points in second place. With 157 points, District 6 (Corentyne) were third while District 13 (followed closely behind in fourth with 153 points.
On the other hand, after a day full of excitement at the National Aquatic Centre, Liliendaal, North Georgetown (District 11) ruled the pool once again with 441 points overall to clinch yet another swimming championship. Old rivals District 11 settled for second with 349 points while East Georgetown (District 12) was third with 250 points, Bartica (District 7) fourth with 237.5 points and Essequibo/Pomeroon fifth with 202 points.
The 61st edition of the National Schools Cycling, Swimming & Track & Field will continue today with the Track & Field segment running off at the National Track & Field Centre at Edinburgh. District 10 are the overall defending champions and have held that title for six consecutive years.
