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No medals for Guyana’s swimmers in Jr. SA C/Ships in Peru
But Coach Baksh satisfied with overall performance…
By Sean Devers
Kaieteur News – The Guyana swimteam returned from the South American Jr. Championships in Peru, which was held from November 8-14, last Tuesday and despite not being able to capture any medals Coach Sean Baksh, one of two Coaches who accompanied the team, said he was satisfied with the performance of the team.
The youngsters had to travel during the Covid-19 Pandemic period and adhere to all Covid protocols while having to deal with the high altitude.
Olympian 15-year-old Aleka Persaud headlined the Guyanese contingent while the others who travelled to Peru were; Leon Seaton Jr., Paul Mahaica Jr., Daniel Claxton, Elliott Gonsalves, Sekhel Tzedeq, Patrice Mahaica and Ariel Rodrigues.
“They are a young bunch and the meet was good exposure for them they needed to be there to see what their peers in South America are capable of so they can be motivated to put more into their swimming,” said Baksh.
Team Guyana at the Jr, SA Championships in Peru.
Baksh noted that the meet was an eye opener for them.
“The altitude was the biggest factor affecting performance and the experience gained by both the coaches and swimmers bodes well for the future …for us to have had better performances we needed to be there much earlier…at least 15 days was needed to acclimatize we only had three,” continued Baksh.
Baksh said GASA has to do a lot more resistance work if we want to compete at high altitude meets which is where most of South American meets are kept.
“As I said the coaches gained some much needed experience and we got some guidance from the coaches there …also Aleka and Elliott were able to make finals so we are not that far behind it’s just a matter of adjusting our training to suit the altitude and being able to be at the meets earlier to acclimatize.
There are a number of regional and international meets next year with Carifta being one of the important ones for the majority of the swimmers who went to Peru. Also there will be the World Championships for the more seasoned swimmers and a few meets around the Caribbean that they will want to target.
There needs to be sustained assistance for the development plan that GASA has in place so that the coaches and swimmers can focus on what needs to be done and not be worrying about where funding is coming from…. nothing can take the place of constant competition with their peers…that is how both the swimmers and coaches can gauge progress and make adjustments for better performances,” Baksh continued.
The most experienced Guyanese swim Coach, Baksh feels overseas training is not necessarily a factor but periodic high altitude training camps can play a major role in the development of an elite group of swimmers which will give them the tools to be able to compete with the best in the world.
“That is part of the plan that was given to the GOA and NSC the plan was created for Aleka and was adopted for the other swimmers…we would have done much better had the training camp come off and we would have been at high altitude 22 days in advance of the meet …our performances would have been better had the camp taken place but funding came way too late, we only got three days of training in Peru before competition started.”
Baksh is the personal Coach of National female 50m freestyle record holder Persaud at her local Swim Club, Orca.
“Aleka did not improve on any of her times but she was just a few hundredths off of her best times and she made a final in the 50 freestyle.
She maintained her entry placements throughout the meet …. overall she was not pleased with her performance but she understands why her performance was not so good and is aware of what she needs to do to have a better performance in Abu Dhabi at the Short Course World Championships …her next meet is the Junior Panam Games but the altitude in Cali Colombia is twice as high as in Peru,” Baksh concluded.
Meanwhile, according to GASA President, Dwayne Scott, the event formeda part of the Association’s aim is to give exposure since they have Paris 2024 Olympic Games qualification in mind.
Scott said this Junior Championship was part of the youth development plan for 19 athletes the Association has “long-listed” since they want to qualify for the Olympics based on entry standard time and not the Universality spots.
It is also part of the process of building a potential relay team, whose aim will also be Olympic qualification.
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