1st South American Youth Games – Lima, Peru...Grand opening set for this evening; Guyanese athletes getting warm for the challenges

1st South American Youth Games – Lima, Peru…Grand opening set for this evening; Guyanese athletes getting warm for the challenges

Sep 20, 2013 Sports

The inaugural South American Youth Games is set to officially open this evening between 19:00 – 21:00hrs in Lima, Peru, 20:00 – 22:00hrs Guyana time with an extravagant opening ceremony at the Plaze de Armas de Lima.
This morning at 09:00hrs the Flag Ceremony will be held where the flags of the participating countries will be hoisted, each country will be represented by five athletes.

Boxing Coach Wincel ‘Naka B’ Thomas and the boxers posing at the Hotel just before they left for training yesterday afternoon.

A series of Technical Meetings will also be held today (Boxing & Tennis), while athletes will be winding down training ahead of the start of competition tomorrow. Cycling, Boxing and Tennis will start tomorrow at varying venues.
Chef-de-Mission, Dr. Karen Pilgrim reported that there are still a number of challenges faced by a number of countries but they are working along with the organizers to see things go smoothly as possible.
Kaieteur News went to the Athletics and Swimming venues where workers were still battling against the clock to get the venues ready for competition.
Translation at yet another meeting the Guyanese delegation leader attended yesterday morning was a challenge, no interpreter was present. But despite this, the athletes have been working hard with their coaches getting in shape for the challenges including the weather.
Swimming coach Sean Baksh took the three swimmers, Onica George, Hannibal Gaskin and Omar Adams through their paces at the competition venue where workers were still painting and washing down the canvas roof.
The session focused on simple kicking, pulling, speed and endurance. “This format with just a few days to competition is designed to ensure that the athletes keep their bodies in tuned before actual competition starts.”
Baksh also noted that lots of motivational and mental work is being done to keep his charges focused. In spite of the venue which hosted the Third FINA World Junior Championships in August 2011 having a covered roof, the cold weather will still pose a challenge for the swimmers.
At yesterday’s session, the lone female athlete, Onica George seemed to be at home in the conditions and has promised to give 110%. These athletes have been preparing for the past four weeks and are set and ready to go.
Athletics coach Julian Edmonds whose charges will be in action until Friday said that their session went well with the youngsters warming up to the competition. They have the added advantage of having more days to get acclimatized.
“I think they will be prepared to take on the competition, there were some slight breathing problems on Wednesday, our first day of training but they are overcoming that. We have about four more sessions to go, we will wrap up on about the 24th or 25th.”
Table Tennis coach Linden Johnson reported that his players are grooving in smoothly as well. They have had a look at some of their opposing players from Brazil, Argentina and Columbia and believe that Guyana will give a very good account of themselves.
“We notice that the floor is a bit different from what we are accustomed to, it is much more solid which sees the ball bouncing much faster so we are adjusting to that. The tables that are being used are the one we play on at home, the Stag 1000 so that a plus.
I am looking forward to good things from our players in this competition which will be hot and exciting.”
Badminton coach Gokarn Ramdhani informed that his two players have adjusted well so far. Yesterday they were able to play some warm up matches against players from Argentina which went well.

Swimming Coach Sean Baksh giving instructions to athletes during training yesterday.

“The venue is fine and they have been doing well so far. I found that because of the air, the shuttle has been moving a bit slow but we will adjust to that and be ready to take on our competition with success.”
Weightlifting Coach Sean Cozier too, expressed confidence in his three athletes. They have been fine tuning their techniques at their sessions and like the others, the weather has been a challenge, “But we are getting their and will be ready,” Cozier boasted.
The boxers and cyclists also trained yesterday. There was a minor accident where Alonzo Ambrose fell coming down a hill and did not negotiate a bump properly. He was taken to hospital where he received a few (3) stitches for a minor cut on his left shoulder.
Cycling Coach William Howard said that Ambrose will be fit and ready for competition. Howard noted however that the Mountain and BMX cycles that were promised by the Organising Committee were not yet delivered up to last evening which will pose some challenges for his charges.
Despite the many hiccups, Team Guyana is focused on taking on their competition and doing well.