Sunday marked the exciting conclusion of the UANA Swim Tokyo Qualifier in Clermont Florida.
Despite the training challenges resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic over the past year, Grenadian Swimmers Delron Felix and Kerry Ollivierre both put out Personal Best performances resulting in the establishment of new National Records by each swimmer.
On the opening day of the competition, Felix broke his own National records in the 50M Backstroke with a time of 28.13 edging out his previous record of 28.15. Additionally, Felix went on to set another National Record when he swam a time of 26.29 in the 50M Butterfly, surpassing his previous record of 26.35. The climax for Felix came on Sunday in the 100M Freestyle, when he set his third National record for this meet with a time of 52.9, establishing a new national record previously held by Esau Simpson in 2016.
National swimmer Kerry Ollivierre, who is based in the US, also established a new National Record in the 50M Freestyle. Swimming in a Time Trial, Ollivierre swam a time of 24.00 which surpassed his previous time of 24.20. Ollivierre additionally swam personal best times in the 50M Breaststroke with a time of 31.05 and 50M Butterfly in a time of 26.47.
With the lead-up to Tokyo 2020 Olympics only 3 months away, Felix, the only swimmer to have attained the Youth Olympic qualifying time, continues to hold the highest FINA points ranking. In spite of the ongoing challenge of an inadequate pool for training, Felix’s perseverance has demonstrated his commitment to the sport. Over the past year Coaches Ronald Charles and Nataly Sierra have supported Delron’s swim training programme, while his strength and condition training has been led by Personal Trainer Suzanne LaTouche of New Bodies Training Studio.
Felix and Coach Nataly Sierra were expected to return to Grenada, Monday, 3 May. He will resume his intense training schedule following his mandated quarantine period. Ollivierre will continue his training at the Azura Training Camp where he is presently on FINA Scholarship in the US.
The Grenada Amateur Swimming Association (GASA) will continue to collaborate with the Grenada Olympic Committee in its preparation for athletes to participate in the 2020 Olympics.
GASA
Well done and congratulations on a stellar achievement. Your futures are looking great! ❤️
Awesome and congratulations to all. There is a bright future ahead of each of them ❤️
Congratulations to both young men and wishing them all the best in their future endeavours. To the powers that be, a decent swimming pool for swimmers is long overdue. Grenada have many young athletes who have the potential and desire to reach Olympic standard but the facilities are not available, athletes and parents become discouraged and eventually quit the sport. Time to help harness and nurture, how are we to have anything to harvest.