Swimmers Persaud & Fowler settling in well in Tokyo

Jul 17, 2021 Sports

By Sean Devers

Kaieteur News – Swimmers Aleka Persaud and Andrew Fowler are among seven athletes set to represent the Golden Arrow Head in the Tokyo Olympics which is scheduled to run from July 23 to August 8.

Coach Gonsalves is flanked by Fowler (left) and Persaud in Japan.

Persaud, at 15, is the youngest Guyanese to attend the Olympics and is the fastest female swimmer in Guyana despite her age, while Fowler is participating in his second Olympics after competing in Rio, Brazil in 2016.
The pair along with their Coach Shyka Gonsalves arrived in Tokyo last Wednesday and explained to Kaieteur Sports about their trip and how they settled in so far in Japan for a pre-Olympic Training Camp.
The Camp was facilitated by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) and was scheduled to run from July 13 to July 23.
However, due to a flight delay which resulted in the Guyanese trio missing their connecting flight, they arrived a day late.
“We are not yet in the Olympic Village we are presently at the Preparation Section Olympic & Paralympic Division in Izumi-cho, Tachikawa-City, Tokyo, Japan,” disclosed Coach Gonsalves.
“The traveling to get to Tokyo was long and a bit tiring. We left Guyana on Sunday July 11 and travelled to Miami where the we had to spend the night.
On Monday July 12 we left Miami for Dallas but the flight was delayed by four hours and missed our connecting flight and had to spend overnight. We eventually left Dallas on Tuesday July 13 and arrived in Tokyo on Wednesday July 14,” said Coach Gonzales.
Due to a spike in infections involving highly transmissible coronavirus variants the Government has declared a state of emergency for Tokyo throughout the duration of the Olympics, which will be without any fans.
With the exception of those associated with the Olympics, all people, including Japanese Citizens and foreign residents, as well as those granted permission to enter Japan under special circumstances, are required to self-isolate for 14 days after entering the Country.
“We are always wearing a mask, except when we eat or drink…there are bottles of Sanitisers at every venue, while we do a saliva test every day before Lunch and wear disposable gloves to serve ourselves meals,” Gonsalves noted.
Despite having to adapt to the ‘new normal’ and performing without any fans in the stands, the Coach informed that the swimmers are mentally ok and focused on training and proving themselves.
The Coach said she and her charges are satisfied with the quality of the meals in Tokyo.
“The food is good, no complaints. There are dishes you like and some you don’t but that’s a personal preference. All in all, the meals are good,” concluded Gonsalves.
Also in Tokyo to represent the Golden Arrow Head, are Track and Field Athletes Emanuel Archibald and siblings Jasmine and Aliyah Abrams; the first sisters to ever represent Guyana at the same Olympics since this Country participated at its inaugural Olympics in 1948.
Boxer Keevin Allicock, who will hope to join fellow Pugilist Mike Parris who won a Bronze (Guyana’s only Olympic medal) at the Moscow Olympics in 1980, as the second Guyanese Boxer to win an Olympic medal and Chelsea Edghill, Guyana’s first Table Tennis Olympian.
This Country has participated in 16 previous Olympic Games.