We have to be wise and prioritise

Aug 02, 2009 Sports

By Rawle Welch
At the time of writing some 39 records have been broken at this year’s FINA World Championships which enters its final day today in Rome, Italy.
The frequency in which the previous records have been erased has evoked controversy about the impact the performance-enhancing, non-textile swimsuits is having on the championships, forcing the world governing body for the sport to ban them from January 1.
The first five days saw 29 records set, with only two of the current world records, both men’s and women’s registered before the introduction of polyurethane suits in 2008.
It is even being advanced that if the ban goes into effect from January 1, most of those records might not be broken in the near future.
Swimming has become so hi-tech now that with the Americans and Europeans leading the rest of the world, the question is why Guyana chose to construct an Olympic-size pool at the expense of a synthetic track for athletics really boggles the mind.
Firstly, swimming is not one of those high-profile sports in this region, and even if it was, with the race on by those countries who could afford to invest in the sort of scientific research to maintain their dominance in the sport already underway, such an investment ahead of a facility for track & field might not have been a wise venture.
With the Caribbean currently enjoying its best ever era in track& field, and the cost to invite many of the world’s best athletes within reach, the procurement of such a facility most likely would have been more profitable both in terms of sports tourism and recouping the investment in reasonable time.
Right now athletics is one the leading sports globally and with Caribbean athletes having a mass following by coaches, media and fans wherever they compete, a Meet that attracts the likes of the great Jamaican Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell, Veronica Campbell-Brown and the rest would certainly have positively catapulted Guyana up the sporting map.
The possibility of those athletes gracing our shores is not far-fetched, being members of CARICOM; some agreement could be brokered to reduce the amount of appearance fees they are usually accustomed to.
Guyana will not be able to produce a swimmer of the calibre of Trinidad & Tobago’s George Bovell and Suriname’s Anthony Nesty, let alone feature on the world circuit, so placing such a costly undertaking ahead of a track for athletics must be deemed unfortunate right now.
The likelihood of this facility benefiting the masses is slim, especially when one considers the difficulty even our national swimmers face to get the use of the Castellani Pool.
Perhaps, it would be really interesting to know who the persons were and what reasons were submitted that convinced the authorities that investing in such a project was going to make a major impact in the sport ahead of athletics.
Obviously, the investment would cost more with fewer benefits over the long term, while it is almost certain that we could have produced athletes to compete even with a small measure of success on the international stage in the near future.
It might be too late now to turn back the hands of time with regards to the construction of the pool, but immediate consideration must also be given to the procurement of a facility for track & field.
Imagine, no swimmer has made their mark on the international stage, but even with those stark results will eventually enjoy what is touted to be a state-of-the-art pool, while Guyanese have not been able to see our best athlete Aliann Pompey compete right here for sometime.
What a travesty, a situation which ought to be corrected before she retires.
It is not to say that Guyana is not deserving of such a pool, but as I’ve said in previous articles, when money is the issue, we have to be wise and prioritise.

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