GASA says thanks to Team Guyana and Corporate partners

Apr 11, 2010 Sports

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For CARIFTA success

By Franklin Wilson
There’s the old saying that in everything you should give thanks, and that is exactly what the Guyana Amateur Swimming Association (GASA) did yesterday when they hosted the successful Carifta Swimming Championship team and Sponsors yesterday afternoon at the Cara Hotels, Quamina Street, Georgetown.
The Carifta team of swimmers Jessica Stephenson (2 gold & 1 silver) and Ronaldo Rodrigues along with Coach Christopher Mc Adam and Manager Davina Stephenson and representatives of the Corporate entities that supported team Guyana, Guyana Telephone & Telegraph Company Cellink, Scotia Bank, Demerara Distillers Limited, Cara Hotels (Guyana & Trinidad & Tobago), Rose Dubux Decorators and John Edwards of Trinidad & Tobago were all recognised for their collective efforts in ensuring the success of Team Guyana at the just concluded Carifta Games held in Kingston, Jamaica.
The two-member Guyana team performed exceptionally well seeing Guyana finish an admirable 10th ahead of St. Lucia, Grenada, the Netherlands Antilles, Bermuda, the US Virgin Islands and Antigua & Barbuda.
GASA President Phillip Walcott in opening remarks said the association wanted to salute all who made their contributions towards the success of the team.   Walcott pointed out that sports sponsorship falls into two categories, development investment, which is basically to help a team get exposure that is vital to the development of a team which may not necessarily do very well, but it’s an investment in the long term.
The GASA boss alluded to the fact that a team can only do well based on its exposure over time.
“And then there is the investment in terms of winning, returns on the publicity basically because it is expected that the team will do well. It is therefore against this back ground that we are often grateful to our sponsors for taking the step of faith in terms of supporting and helping a team to go to an event.”
Walcott continued, “The fact that this one has done us proud, we want to salute them and all who would have played a role.”
Manager/Chaperon of the team Davina Stephenson in brief remarks mentioned that the swimmers were exceptional in the way they carried themselves and performed. “They were enthusiastic and ready to do anything that we asked of them, always with a smile on their faces.”
Rodrigues, she stated, did well in shaving time off of his personal best in the first race alluding to the fact that he does not enjoy as much pool time as Jessica. “I take my hat off to Ronaldo for his hard work.”
Ms. Stephenson also expressed sincere gratitude to GASA for their support in making them comfortable.
“As the Team Manager, I’ve learnt to hold my head up with great pride but this is the result of hard work, good behavior and decent people on our team and the support that we received both from GASA and all our sponsors.”
Stephenson called on all Guyana to, “Support your athletes, support your young people, these are your future. There is a famous study which found out that students who get involved in swimming are exceptional students, they need your support.”
Jessica Stephenson who became the first female Guyanese to win gold at Carifta on 2008, in her response noted that competition this year was fierce but both Rodrigues and herself tried to race smartly and do their very best.
While thanking her coaches for their invaluable leadership, Jessica Stephenson stated that she was proud to represent her country and be able to come home and share her knowledge.
“I am very fortunate to be training in Trinidad at the moment where I can train in a 50m Olympic size pool and I’m lucky to be able to train at least 12 hours a week with an average of 4000 to 6000 meters per 2 hours session together with around 7 hours of dry land training.
Unfortunately, my teammates who are very talented are only able to get about half of my training time in due to lack of pool time. I cannot wait for all of us to be able to get into the new swimming pool.”
The celebrated gold medalist reminded that swimming at the international level can be very costly and she was very grateful to Trinidadian John Edwards who made it possible for her to get the latest swim suit. She also singled out all the other sponsors for their support as well as her family for their help.
Her next aim she said is the CAC Games in Puerto Rico in July which will be her first senior competition.
GT&T’s Marketing Executive Wystan Robertson in remarks reminded that sports have always been of particular focus to GT&T mainly because they have seen the value of what it has done for young people.
“We have seen the value of what it has done for Guyana in putting us on the Regional and World map in a country where role models are few and far to find, exemplary sportsmen and women have been held up as role models for young people in our society and it is something that we as a company will continue to support and would want to see a lot more medalist’s on the international stage, the likes of Jessica.”
Robertson said GT&T has a rich history of constant support for the development of young sportsmen and women in the area of squash, cricket, motor racing, football and athletics among other disciplines.
“I urge teams to continue the hard work that we have seen demonstrated by these swimmers; to continue the dedication and commitment to the sport so that we as sponsors could see and support such responsible behavior.” Cara Hotels Representative Sean McGrath said the level of talent among the swimmers in Guyana is phenomenal having seen many of them in action. He said the times that they have been doing in competition given the pool time available to them, with improved pool time, they will do wonders.
He called on corporate Guyana to step up to the plate and support the young talent in assisting them to the next level.
“All they need is the financial resources, equipment and the facilities to do it. The pool I understand is coming into being by the end of the year and that is going to give everyone in Guyana the opportunity to train in a world class facility.”
Meanwhile, GASA will now turn its attention to preparation for the CAC Games in Puerto Rico in July and the annual Goodwill Games (Developmental Meet) featuring teams from Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados and possibly, St. Lucia.

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