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Thompson qualifies for Pan Am Games
– Resets NRs on challenging journey
Chase Thompson
Kaieteur Sports – Chase Thompson has become the first Guyanese to qualify for the Pan American Games Swimming Championships in the Breaststroke event when he produced a new personal best and national record, just under a week ago.
Thompson clocked 1:06.53s in the 100m trek to make it to the Pan Am Games, which is the Paris 2024 Olympics’ first direct qualifier. He also qualified for the TYR Pro Swim Series 2024.
Across four consecutive days, Thompson tried to achieve the feat and thankfully reached his mark on the final attempt. Days prior, he missed qualifying for the Pan American Games by a hundredth of a second (0.01s) in the 100m Breaststroke but set a new 50m Breaststroke National Record of 29.60s.
He said, “This achievement would not have been possible without my family, all of my coaches and God who have all been instrumental in helping me reach this momentous milestone. I am grateful for their continuous encouragement and guidance throughout this journey.”
“I also want to add, I cannot express my sincere gratitude for the many people that have helped me thus far, especially my coaches in Guyana, GASA and the Guyana Olympic Committee.”
Thompson last competed for Guyana in 2021 at the UANA Tokyo Qualifier. At the meet, he broke two Guyanese national records, rewriting the record books in the 50-meter breaststroke from 30.9s to 30.2s and in the 100-meter breaststroke from 1:09.0s to an astonishing 1:06.7s, which was ranked in the top 17 in the Central America and Caribbean region.
Born to Guyanese parents, Thompson lives in Texas in the United States of America and has a passion to compete for the Country, for which he disclosed, “…this country gave my family everything and I hope I can give back and inspire generations of swimmers and make my late mother proud.”
The swimmer also shared a post on social media about his journey to the historic moment.
It reads: “After the Tokyo Qualifier meet my mother passed away unexpectedly. This tragic loss was detrimental to our family. My mother’s passing came 5 months after my grandmother’s passing. My mother and grandmother always told me stories of home and how much they loved Guyana. My dad shared in the stories as well, both of my parents being born and raised in Guyana were impactful in my upbringing and the pride they have in home.”
“At her funeral, I promised my mother I would do everything in my power to represent our home nation the best way I could. I was accepted into occupational therapy school and decided to keep training but swimming after the passings were extremely difficult. I set my sights on getting back to swimming and qualifying for the Pan American Games and it was a humbling experience that challenged me physically, emotionally, and spiritually.”
Follow Chase’s journey on Instagram @liveforthechase
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