While most of the country has been in carnival mode over the past few weeks, our National Swimmers have been hard at work in preparation for the Goodwill Swim Meet to be held in Barbados from 17–19 August.
Coach Damnique Walters, Head Coach for this team, with the assistance of Coach Mandy Dean, has worked with the 30-member team in preparation for the Goodwill Meet over the past 6 weeks.
The team is scheduled to depart Grenada on 16 August. They are competing against 8 other islands from across the Caribbean. As the Goodwill Swim Meet is intended to be a developmental meet, swimmers who participated in the 2018 Carifta, CCCAN and CONSANAT Swimming Championships or higher are not eligible to participate in this competition.
The 30-member team includes
- 7-8-year-old girls & boys: Maggie Watson, Nailah Charles, Kristin Gresham, Louki Louw, Jonathan Bedeau, Ethan Purcell, Jaaziel Francis
- 9-10-year-old girls & boys: Tilly Collymore, Nina James, Shelby Neckles, Mallon Paterson, Zac Holmes, Elliot Fletcher, Jermaine Donald
- 11-12-year-old girls & boys: Denorge Alexis, Jalena Coutain, Georgia Fletcher, Kalonji Lowe, Nathan Fletcher
- 13-14-year-old girls & boys: Abigail John, Canaa James-Gittens, Jaynie Regis, Zoe James, Eli Zerpa , Iyanu Antoine, Tendai Haukozi
- 15-17-year-old boys: Thabo Antoine, Andre Samuel, Christian Phillip, Tyler John.
The team will compete in 104 events carded for the competition. This event is a great opportunity for the many first time competitors to sharpen their skills to compete regionally. This also offers well for the development of the sport locally as we now have a second tier of swimmers available to compete at theses regional championship. We anticipate a good representation from all team members, with improvement on their existing times with some personal best times as this competition although dubbed as a development meet it still remains highly competitive with strong swimmers from across the region.
The Grenada Amateur Swimming Association (GASA) is grateful for the support received from the Grenada Tourism Authority, Belmont Estate, De La Grenade Industries and Grenada Chocolate Factory, in preparation for the cultural exchange of the meet. These companies/organisations generously provided their products as part of the team’s cultural presentation and exchange.
Two members of the GASA Executive, Gail Purcell and Laura Fletcher will also be accompanying the team to the championship along with many swim parents providing additional support.
GASA extends best wishes to the team and look forward towards excellent representation at all levels
GASA