Amy Grant to challenge GASA for 50m Fly National Record

Aug 27, 2015 Sports

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One of Guyana’s leading swimmers and talented all-round athlete as well as musician, Amy Grant is set to challenge the Guyana Amateur Swimming Association (GASA) in relation to not being credited with a National Record in the Girls 13-14 50m SC Butterfly which she swam at the July Sprint Meet/Goodwill 2015 Team Trials on July 11th, 2015 at the National Aquatic Centre, Liliendaal.
Grant swam a record time of 33.56 in the Girls 13-14 50m SC Butterfly which was a faster time than the record that was previously set by Noelle Smith (33.74) on the 8/15/2008 which was achieved at the 2008 Goodwill Games in Guyana.
When the results were released on July 12th, 2015 and it was confirmed that she {Grant} swam the record time, Grant’s parents asked the Referee of the Meet, Mr. Charles Corbin when would the records would be updated to which he told them that there would be no records for the Meet as the times were not important since the Meet was being held to facilitate the learning of time keeping by GTU Teachers.
According to the Grant’s, it was a shock as Amy was swimming a qualifying Meet for Goodwill and she was unaware that the times were not important. The Meet Summons, a document that outlines all that should be known including the events, penalties, fees and entry rules among other information had nothing about time not being used for records.
The Grant’s further informed that after speaking to Ms. Stephanie Fraser of Dorado Speed Swim Club, Ms. Jaikarran and Mr. Dave Ramnarine of the Sea Otters Swim Club, who attended the Technical Meeting which was held the week prior to the July Sprint Meet/Goodwill 2015, it was established that the issue of the Meet not being used for records was never discussed or mentioned at the Technical Meeting.
The only thing about time mentioned was that the 10 and under were not going to have their times used as a criteria for selection to the Goodwill Games.
According to the Grant’s, GASA is being run like it is not an organisation that operates on rules, rather, the association acts on impulse. “If the officials feel like doing something now they do and then change next half hour if it suits them,” the Grant’s suggested.
“They pay too little attention to the governing documents and only realize their importance when the deficiencies in these documents land them squarely in the middle of a dispute with a member and they have always been getting away with their bullying tactics and disregard for rules.”
The Grant’s said that they had written to Amy’s club representative, Mr. Leon Seaton requesting representation of the record being credited to the swimmer. They also wrote to GASA Secretary Ms. Dee George requesting that the matter be brought up at the next Council meeting.
Following a conversation with Ms. George, the Grant’s were told by Ms. George that she was also unaware of a swimmer not being able to swim and make record times at the Meet.
The first Council meeting was to be held on the first Thursday of August but it was cancelled to the 18th August, 2015. The meeting was again cancelled but with no new date given.
The Grant’s emphatically stated that Amy has suffered more than once by the unprofessional approach and disregard to the “duty of fairness” by GASA. “The duty of fairness is simple-it simply means that there is fairness for all athletes.”
Amy’s parents further noted that in March of this year at the Republic Anniversary Meet which was sponsored by the Desmond Hoyte Foundation, Amy entered eight events but did not swim two as she was not strong enough after coming out of an illness less than a week before the Meet.
She won Gold in the six events she swam. Two weeks later the parents were at a prize giving ceremony where trophies were presented to the first to third place winners and Amy was down to receive the second place trophy.
When the Meet Director, Mr. Shefetah Tezdeq was asked how that was possible, given that fact that young Amy Grant won the most Gold medals in her age group and there was no mention of trophies being presented in the Meet Summons, Mr. Tezdeq informed them that the members of Desmond Hoyte Foundation told him that the trophies must be given to the swimmer with the highest points, not the person with the most gold medals and since Amy was one point below the person they selected as winner then she gets the second place trophy.
The Grant’s said that they told Mr. Tezdeq that if the information about being rewarded was on the Summons then all Amy had to do was swim the two events she dropped and she would have easily made the required points to be ahead and win.
“Two rules were broken, one being it was not mentioned on the summons and the other – FINA rules G. RESOURCES 17 – states clearly that no sponsor or Government organization must be allowed to interfere with the running of the sport of Aquatics.
“GASA needs to learn that policy is what’s written on the paper and not what’s in the mind of the drafters of the policy, or in the collective memory of the organisation. Amy had paid the entry fee for the events she swam sealing the contract between the organisation and her,” The Grant’s shared.
Amy Grant qualified for the 2015 Goodwill Games which was held in Trinidad but she did not make the trip because GASA once again refused to let her mother stay with her knowing that she has a medical problem.

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