Due to the adjustment of Barbados’ new COVID-19 restrictions, Barbados Amateur Swimming Association President Cheryl Lady Forde announced Thursday that the CARIFTA Swimming Championships would be postponed.
The Championships, which were slated for March 26th to April 7th this year, went into limbo after host country Barbados faced a new wave of coronavirus outbreaks and moved to lock-in action across the island.
Locally, Guyana Amateur Swimming Association (GASA) President Dwayne Scott is pleased with the news of the postponement.
“Put it correctly, it is a necessary action taken. Because I guess our athletes haven’t been able to access the facility to train since last March. So, for Guyana, it’s positive if these decisions are indeed confirmed as they are posted, ”Scott shared with Guyana Times Sport on Thursday.
He added, “So we welcome that move, because it will allow us a little more time to prepare our athletes. Currently, we do not have access to CARIFTA athletes at the facility, so our athletes cannot train. ”
In his comments, which were invited by this publication, Scott admitted that there were some overwhelming concerns because pools have been closed since last March.
GASA President said, “Technically, it would have been a year (since) the Games would have come, and our athletes would have entered the Games without any level of preparation. So, yes, we would have been at a disadvantage. And I hope these decisions push it back even further, you know, so that we can adequately prepare our athletes. ”
At trial, Scott admitted that had the Games gone ahead as planned, the likelihood that Guyanese swimmers would be adequately prepared to compete would have been slim. 
“The only preparation we were able to allow our athletes would be to prepare ground, which is not appropriate for three months; but this is just for us to keep conditioning, ”he replied. “And even if we had them back in the pool this week, next week, or next month, the time slot from then on to the Games wasn’t enough to allow us some preparation time.”
To date, Scott has consulted with Sports Minister Charles Ramson Jr. on reopening pools for training purposes. (Jemima Holmes)
