Boyce-Vaughan competes in para swimming

Barbados’ sole participant in the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, France, competed just after 4:00 am on Monday morning. Swimming in Heat 3, Lane 1 on Monday in the men’s S9 50m freestyle, Antwahn Boyce-Vaughan finished seventh in a new personal best time of 34.28 seconds at the La Defense Arena.

That aligned with the main goal the 23-year-old amputee had set for himself ahead of the Games, his second time competing at this level after learning to swim in 2020.

“I feel good that I beat my personal best by a second,” he said. “Not much, but it’s better than nothing. At first I was kind of nervous that I would mess up along the way, but eventually I got the hang of it.”

Accompanied by coach Adele Price and president of the Paralympic Association Of Barbados (PAB), Martin Jackman, Boyce-Vaughan has been enjoying the Paralympic experience, getting the chance to speak to French students and take in the sights of the historic city.

Price, who has also volunteered as head coach for swimming with Special Olympics Barbados, has been a learn-to-swim coach with the National Sports Council since 2008. She noted that Boyce-Vaughan’s technique and attitude continue to improve.

Jackman, meanwhile, told Barbados TODAY that he was pleased to see the young man dropping his time, but noted that the paralympics movement faces greater hurdles in terms of athlete preparation than is the case for organisations that cater to the able bodied.

“He did pretty well. He did another personal best,” Jackman pointed out. “Not close to reaching the finals as yet, but he did another personal best, because he beat the time which he did in Japan.

“But he still has a long way to go towards reaching that mark, when he can reach the finals. But a lot of the challenges that we have is being able to get our athletes training time for them and getting them the proper attention. There’s a number of challenges that hinder Paralympic athletes’ development right now.”

Jackman laments that Para sport can be very expensive, and that not all coaches have the resources and training to deal with athletes who might be differently able. PAB has been providing training for coaches in various sports, but Jackman concedes that the gap remains significant. He stressed, however, that Para athletes are winners just by showing up.

“Paralympics is not just about sports – it’s about a movement to educate the world, to show the world that persons with disabilities have the ability to achieve,” he explained. “And all they want to do is to fulfil their potential, whatever that may be.”

Considering the future for Boyce-Vaughan, Jackman reiterated that the young man does have a great deal of potential, not to mention zeal for the sport. The veteran administrator told Barbados TODAY that if it is the two-time Paralympian’s desire to compete again at Los Angeles 2028, PAB will be working to support him.

“We have to now evaluate, find out what he wants to do,” Jackman said. “Antwahn is not just only an amputee,  he’s also autistic. So we have got be able to sit down with him, for him to decide what he wants. It’s all about his decision what he would like to do.

“We would like to see him have the opportunity to train more. We would like to see him have the opportunity to be able to get involved in more competitions. Because he has the potential.

“But one of things is that because of not having the opportunity to be able to get out there and participate more and to be able to compete more, and not only be competitive outside of Barbados but have competitions in Barbados, where he can have persons who have similar disabilities that he can compete with and so he can partner with and train.”

(TF)