(Letter to the Sports Editor)

I write regarding an article that appeared in your sports page of August 6 under the caption of “GASA denies claims of favouritism in selection of Olympic coach” in which the President of GASA is quoted as saying, “Paul Mahaica was chosen through a democratic process of voting” to be the Rio 2016 swimming coach.Is the President of GASA (who is also the Chairman of the National Sports Commission) really stating that the selection of the coach to accompany athletes to the highest level of sports competition should be based only on popularity? Is there no concern for what is best for the swimmers?
In July 2008, GASA Council (executive plus club representatives) agreed that the coach who travels with a team should be from the club of the majority of swimmers.
This decision was not lightly made; it resulted from consultation with the Athletics Association of Guyana and Amateur Swimming Association of Trinidad & Tobago.
While the by-laws, which would have cemented this rule, have mysteriously failed to be completed, this rule was followed until the London 2012 Olympics when GASA sent Sean Baksh as coach of two swimmers, neither of whom was from his club; both of whom were members of the Dorado Speed Swim Club.
The explanation given at that time was that the swimmers’ coach, Stephanie Fraser, had gone to Beijing in 2008 and someone else should “get a turn”.
In the case of Rio 2016, the two swimmers are Hannibal Gaskin (Dorado) and Jamila Sanmoogan (Dolphin). The proposed coaches were Shyka Gonsalves (Dorado) and Paul Mahaica (Dolphin). So a second criterion should have been applied to select the coach – what is best for the swimmers.
To determine this, there should have been a comparison of the knowledge and experience of the coaches. I will attach the resumés of three Dorado coaches for your information as they are all vastly more experienced than Mr Mahaica. Coach Gonsalves was one of Hannibal’s instructors when he was learning to swim.
Coach Stephanie Fraser has been his primary coach since he became a competitive swimmer; persevering despite another coach’s advice that Hannibal should choose another sport as “he likes swimming but swimming doesn’t like him”.
She continued to work with him in the morning while coach Gonsalves coached him during afternoon sessions. His acceptance for the FINA Olympic Preparation Scholarship and the positive remarks by the Spire Institute coach are based on their work with Hannibal.
The GASA president went on to justify Mr Mahaica’s selection by stating that he is the National Swim Team Coach. I cannot comment on this as no such term exists in GASA. He then stated that Mr Mahaica will be “coaching the Guyana Goodwill Games swim contingent scheduled to compete in St. Lucia on August 19”.
At best Mr Mahaica can once more be accompanying a team as he will be in Rio during the most crucial ‘taper’ period for the Goodwill team and will return to Guyana on the night of August 15 while the Goodwill team will arrive in St Lucia by the 18th.
I have absolutely nothing personal against coach Mahaica. He is unfailingly courteous to me. I believe that, in time, he may be a good coach, but that is yet to be seen. In 2013, he and I worked side-by-side during a FINA clinic and he was then learning the rudiments of teaching swimming.
Compare this with coach Gonsalves, who became a swim instructor in 2001 and was Guyana Red Cross-certified in 2002. She started coaching more than ten (10) years ago and has attended FINA swimming coaches’ clinics in 2007, 2008 and 2009.
In 2010 she participated in the UNDP Long-Term Athletes’ Development Training-of-Trainers programme. She is an American Swimming Coaches’ Association and FINA Level 2 coach. In December 2015 she earned a Diploma in Swimming from the International Coaching Course, University of Physical Education (Hungary).
Guyanese looked with pride at our Rio 2016 team during the Opening Ceremony. We will all be proud of our athletes, no matter how they do during the Games, but we expect to at least see Personal Bests from our two swimmers. They should have been given the best possible chance to achieve their best.

Sincerely,
Karen Pilgrim