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Body plans to strengthen athletes’ performances, local and regional relationships
Guyana Amateur Swimming Association 2023…
Kaieteur News – The Guyana Amateur Swimming Association’s (GASA) re-elected President, Dwayne Scott, has revealed that the body has several goals they intend to pursue in 2023, now that there is now a full year ahead since the resumption from the pandemic.
GASA President, Dwayne Scott
“The goal this year is to strengthen our relationship with the Regional Body from an administrative side, strengthen our local relationship and partnerships and then we try to make sure that our athletes can show better performances in regional and international outings,” he stated.
“One of the challenges we had last year, of course, had to be with our performance at the CARIFTA Games, our performance at the South American Games; whilst they were decent outings for us, we came back empty-handed. So we’re driving a programme this year to ensure that we can bring back something tangible to Guyana from at least the CARIFTA Games and also the Goodwill, that happens later down in the year.”
It was a tough year for GASA in early stages of 2022 with the COVID restrictions still in place; Guyana’s ten-member team was not able to secure a podium finish at CARIFTA Swimming Championships. Prior, Guyana finished with five medals – three gold and two bronze, all of which were won by Olympian Aleka Persaud in the 2019 CARIFTA Swimming Championships.
Leon Seaton Jr.
Competing in the Girls 11–12 category, Persaud won gold in the 100M fly and 50m free and 100m free events, while claiming bronze in the 200M and 50M fly events.
“We already have in place the key talent that we know can do outstanding performances. But the goal now is to build a more formidable team that can allow us to perform better out there,” the GASA head stated.
“We have a list of 29 athletes that we would have long listed as a part of our development plan. They come in different tiers and categories of performances. Now the goal is to harness that based on the top performers and build them because, you know, after this phase, the Olympics coming up in 2026, we have to start working on creating new talent.”
“We know that (Leon) Seaton is still there, we know that, Aleka is still there, but now we have to build a formidable team around them so that we can actually put forward a relay team within the region, but also work to ensure that they have training partners locally that can drive them.”
The President believes that GASA athletes are a few seconds off of Olympic qualification but the feat is achievable. “They’re a few seconds off, but a few seconds takes a lot. It’s achievable. With the performances we’re seeing right now we know it’s achievable, it’s doable. We’re working with the coaches to see how we can improve the regimen so that they can achieve what we want to achieve between now and that time.”
Scott disclosed that Leon Seaton Jr is currently still training at the High Performance Training Facility on his FINA scholarship and the association is working closely with the coach to assist in any way they can. The association also hopes FINA can assist with Persaud’s development as they plan a few additional camps for her to reach that competitive Olympian level.
Aleka Persaud (Photo: GTmemoirs)
- Aleka Persaud, CARIFTA Games, Dwayne Scott, GASA President, Guyana Amateur Swimming Association 2023
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