FOR many in the world of sports, 23 seems to be a very young age to call it quits but that’s not the case for Guyana’s Niall Roberts who says the sun has set on his days of representing Guyana as a national swimmer. Tired of the lack of competition in swimming at the senior level, and not being able to make a sustainable career out his passion, the Olympian has decided to call it quits, after twelve years of representing Guyana all over the world at every level of competitive swimming.
“I no longer have the drive to train anymore because I have no competition in Guyana, I got tired of winning all the time. So I thought to myself why am I even training.” Roberts said in an interview with Chronicle Sport earlier this week.
“Sport in Guyana just doesn’t pay! I’m going to be 24 this year and I got engaged, so I thought to myself something needs to change, I need to step up, I may be having a family of my own soon.
Every athlete will come to a crossroad, you can choose the path of your sport and prepare to be dependent on your parents or if you choose the other path, which is to work and still train, your training will not be productive nor will your job. That’s the reality in Guyana.”
Roberts shares that hanging up his swimming cap was something he decided upon last year after failing to honour his selection for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, which he missed out on because of a shoulder injury.
“Commonwealth was going to be my last meet, but when I got injured leading up to it I just decided to call it quits. I would be out the pool for too long, it would have taken even longer for me to get back to the level I was at before and I no longer had the mind set for that,” Roberts related
Last year’s missed opportunity would have been Roberts’ first attendance at a Commonwealth Games competition. Although without experience at the renowned Games, Roberts is far from lacking in his experience in competition on the international front. From the CARIFTA Swimming Championships to the Olympics, Roberts has garnered his fair share of experience at international events.
After swimming competitively since 2002, Roberts first began representing Guyana when he made the team for the regional Goodwill Swimming Championships in 2005, when it was held here in Guyana. By 2006 he made it to his first CARIFTA Swimming Championships and in 2007 he was representing the Golden Arrowhead among the big boys at the 12th FINA World Championships in Melbourne, Australia.
Roberts’ specialty was the 50m and 100m freestyle events for which he has personal best timings of 24.75 and 54.99 seconds, respectively. He also swims the 50m and 100m butterfly. In these events his personal best timings are 25.96 seconds and 1:00.02s, respectively.
Roberts continued to be hailed as Guyana’s primary representative, attending the biennial FINA World Championships again in 2009, 2011, and 2013; at CARIFTA in 2008 and 2009, the 2010 South American Games in Medallin, Columbia, and the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico. In-between all of these Roberts pinnacled with his attendance at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2012 London Olympics,
Though he would have liked to be among those athletes gunning for a spot on the Guyana team for the Rio Olympics next year, Roberts says he thinks it would be too selfish to exploit such an opportunity when there are younger swimmers deserving of the opportunity. He is stepping down to give others a chance.
“I no longer had the mindset, but I was still faster than the other swimmers I thought to myself, why should I go abroad to swim when I don’t really care to while there are younger swimmers hungry and grinding to go but not able to because I’m faster. I didn’t see it as right, so I’ve stepped back and it’s their time to shine,” Roberts shared.
And so Roberts closes this chapter on his life, proud of the legacy that he has left behind for others to hope to better one day.
“I did what I wanted to do as an athlete; I made it to the Olympics. I’m very proud of myself. It was a “yes, I made it” sort of feeling, and I got to go twice, amazing. I would have loved to go Rio if circumstances were different, but I don’t have any regrets.
Could I have worked harder? Yes, I know I could have for London. But I wasn’t myself mentally so I suffered physically. Both my swim and gym coaches could have seen a change; I no longer had the drive,” Roberts said.
To those whom he leaves behind to take up the baton he says: “Just go for it, man. I wanted to go to the Olympics but part of me thought I never could, but hey I went twice. You have to be hungry,”
Urging them to follow his favourite Erik Thomas quote: “If you want to succeed as badly as you want to breathe, only then will you be successful”.
(By Tamica Garnett)
