PARTICIPANTS of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport (MCYS) Easter Vacation Swimming Programme, held at the Colgrain Swimming Pool, Camp Street, were encouraged by Sport Minister Dr Frank Anthony and the Director of Sport Neil Kumar at the closing ceremony yesterday, to continue their pursuits in swimming, Dr Anthony reminded the youngsters about the many benefits that the sport had to offer, not only as an extracurricular activity but as a move towards a healthier lifestyle.

Dr Anthony conveyed the Ministry’s commitment to providing opportunities for youngsters to get involved in not only swimming, but sports at large, through the provision of programmes such as this one, backed by the establishment of complementary facilities such as the National Aquatic Centre, and the soon-to-be-opened synthetic track.
For his part Kumar challenged the swimmers to take up the sport not only as a leisure activity but to join established swimming clubs that carry out year round training, so they can get into the sport competitively.
Held from March 30 to April 10, the programme was hosted for a second consecutive year, and is now set to remain an annual event on the Ministry’s programme.
The event, which catered to children between the ages of 6 and 16 years, saw the participation of over 80 swimmers this year exceeding the 76 swimmers that participated last year, and once again surpassing the 60 participants that the Ministry initially catered for.
The programme was implemented to add to the Ministry’s annual Learn to Swim programme already conducted during the August school vacation, aimed as being a means for the children to have an activity during their school breaks.
Participants trained daily from Mondays to Friday in two sessions, the first between 09:30hrs and 10:30hrs, while the second session began immediately after and ran up to 11:30hrs.
Training was conducted by Cuban swimming coach Isabel Couza Fals, who was assisted by coaches Marcia Rodrigues, Marisa Wray, Oluko Venture and Kwesi Melville.
Participants of the programme are encouraged to follow up by registering with clubs affiliated to the Guyana Amateur Swimming Association (GASA) so that they can compete in local competitions, and possibly even represent Guyana as a national swimmer at regional and international events.
Making remarks on behalf of GASA was national coach Sean Baksh, who spoke of how beneficial the programme was in attracting individuals into the sport.