News Sports Minnis hoping to make impact in swimming Barbados Today29/09/20220304 views Saniya Minnis (right) won a silver medal in the 9-10 age group in the Goodwill Games in Trinidad and Tobago. Eleven-year-old Saniya Minnis is a national swimmer who competed in the Goodwill Games which were held in Trinidad and Tobago last month. The former student of St Angela’s School who now attends Queen’s College competed creditably where she swam to a podium finish attaining a silver medal in the 50m breaststroke and two bronze medals in the 4×50 relay and the 4×100 relay. Minnis who is a member of the Barbados Olympian Swim Squad was ecstatic with her performance at the Goodwill Games as this was her first regional meet. “I am very happy to have won medals at the meet as the age group was very competitive. This is just one step closer to my dream of becoming an Olympic swimmer,” she told Barbados TODAY. The dedicated young lady has her eyes set on making the CARIFTA Swim team next year but understands that it will require a lot of hard work to make it. Nevertheless, she remains committed to her mantra of ‘working smarter not harder’ and continues to balance her academics and her swimming practice which occurs four days a week for up to two hours per day. But how did Minnis get involved in swimming? “I got into swimming after seeing my cousins Kenya and Adia Deane swim as a young child. I would have travelled with them to swim meets from the time I was two years old. Internationally I look up to American swimmer Katie Ledecky as she is an exceptional swimmer,” she said. The Goodwilll silver and bronze medallist thanked her family for their consistent support as well as her coach Roydon Blades as she could not have achieved success in the Goodwill Games without them. (Write Right PR Services)