Swimming and water polo championships starting Friday

By Morissa Lindsay

The year continues to get busier for the Barbados Aquatic Sports Association (BASA) as they prepare to host the Central American and Caribbean Swimming Federation (CCCAN) competition, one of the biggest events on the international swimming calendar.

Hundreds of competitors in the disciplines of swimming, water polo and open water are expected to compete from Friday, July 8th to Tuesday, July 26th, with this being the second time Barbados is hosting since 2019.

During a press conference held this morning at the National Aquatic Centre in Wildey, BASA president
Cheryl Lady Forde said she expects that the competition will be tough in all disciplines given that CCCAN
encompasses countries from Central America and the Caribbean.

The dates as scheduled are July 8th to 14th for swimming, then July 14th to 19th for open water swim followed by water polo from July 19th to 26th. Team Barbados will be led by captains Adara Stoddard and Nkosi Dunwoody.

There are a total of 27 countries participating and defending champions Mexico is expected to have the largest contingent. Teams from as far as Bermuda in the north and Guyana in the south as well as Curacao, Aruba, Nicaragua and St. Vincent and the Grenadines are all expected to be here in Barbados.

After much success at the CARIFTA Swimming Championship held in Barbados this year, head coach of the national team Dave Farmer is confident his charges will do well at CCCAN which he described as a much higher level.

Barbados will be represented in the four competing age groups which are 11 to 12, 13 to 14, 15 to 17 as well as 18 and over.

“I think we will do well and give a good account of ourselves. I am not saying necessarily we are going to perform and be at the podium in every event but we have our opportunities and wherever opportunity presents itself we will try our best to seize on that.

“For many of our swimmers this is the real opportunity, I plan to mention that to them but this is the opportunity to really shine. When you shine at this level you would be able to shine because it is Central America and the Caribbean,” Farmer said.

He added that the focus will be on the relays in particular to secure as many medals as they possibly can on home soil. . . or more accurately, home waters.

Barbados’ 19-year-old male captain Dunwoody, currently a student at the University of Indianapolis, is fresh from competing at the just concluded inaugural Caribbean Games in Guadeloupe. He told the media he is hoping for the best going into the competition.

Meanwhile, 16-year-old Christ Church Foundation School student Stoddard said this is the first time she is the captain and is looking forward to leading by example. Stoddard hopes everyone can achieve the goals they set out to accomplish and more importantly better her times in events such as the individual medley.

Head coach of the Barbados water polo team Ryan Forde was also present and noted that it felt good to be back competing at home again. He said while it has been tough and they have only managed to play one tournament in under two and a half years, the expectation at CCCAN will be to qualify for the Central America and Caribbean Games. Forde will be assisted by Akeem Nurse.

To qualify for the Central American and Caribbean Games, Barbados must finish top seven at least and Forde believes that the team is capable of qualifying at home. He pointed out that Cuba will be top of the list as one of their main competitive threats along with Venezuela, Mexico and Colombia.   Mark Hinds who is the coordinator for water polo shared that they intend to have 50 matches over the eight days from July 19th to 26th and there will be 20 female and 30 male games.

Hinds also added that they are looking forward to staging a successful tournament which is nothing new to BASA. The head coach for open water swim is Darny Olalde Hernandez who was unable to attend the press conference because of work commitment while Sharon Small is the manager of the swim team.

Manager of the water polo team Abijah Beckles, a former national junior player encouraged Barbadians to come out and support the swimmers which he emphasized will go a long way.

Assistant Sales and Marketing Manager for Beep products in the Caribbean, Shaneal Bynoe, was in attendance and shared that the company she represents was happy to once again partner with BASA and is looking forward to the successful staging of CCCAN. morissalindsay@barbadostoday.bb