… Closing ceremony ended on sour note

AFTER eight weeks of learning the fundamentals of swimming and participating in various exercises designed to improve swimming, over 80 children aged six to 10 years and 11-16 completed the Department of Social Cohesion, Culture, Youth and Sport/National Sports Commission’s (NSC) ‘Teach Them Young’ swimming course.

The closing ceremony was held at the National Aquatic Centre, Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara, yesterday, where Director of Sport Christopher Jones urged the participants to continue being active in the discipline as well as to balance their books and sport life.

The camp, which began on July 9, featured the younger children (6-10), being taught the basics of swimming, as well as advanced techniques at the National Aquatic Centre, while the older participants (11-16) took their sessions at Colgrain House Pool on Camp Street.

Chronicle Sport spoke to a few of the participants who all noted that they were pleased with the end result of the course, as they had all successfully learnt how to swim.

However, the programme ended on a sour note, as the closing ceremony started almost an hour late; having been scheduled to begin at 10:00hrs, parents/guardians and loved ones were forced to wait in the blistering sun with little to or no seating arrangements available at the venue.

Several disgruntled persons eventually left the venue after no officials came out to advise the crowd on what was happening.

This lack of organising has been an ongoing trend and one can only hope that in the future, the NSC and general personnel in charge of proceedings improve on their punctuality and organising skills.