THE calendar year of 2017 has only just begun, but the plans for boosting swimming in Guyana are already set in motion.
This year, Guyana will be hosting the Goodwill Swim Meet and a successful hosting of the meet is on the mind of Guyana Amateur Swimming Association (GASA) president Ivan Persaud.

“This year is critical for us, we will be hosting the Goodwill Swim Meet and we are focusing on a successful hosting,” stated Persaud in an exclusive comment to Chronicle Sport.
The Goodwill Swim Meet is a developmental activity for swimmers who are not eligible to participate in CARIFTA, CISC and the CCCAN swimming championships.
According to Persaud, Guyana is the only country participating at the meet whose CARIFTA and Olympic swimmers will compete.

“This is the last year for Guyana to have all our swimmers at Goodwill. In fact we are the only country where swimmers who swam in Olympics and higher level competitions could come back down to swim Goodwill, but we intend to change that,” said Persaud.
He was also of the opinion that in order to win or perform well at the Goodwill meet, all the stops need to be pulled out in meets leading up to Goodwill.
“Pulling out all the stops would help us pick the best team and prepare them properly, our goal is to not only to attend but to compete,” he added.

In addition to focusing on the Goodwill Swim Meet, Persaud also spoke about plans to continue the education of swim coaches in the country. He also stated this year would see more swimmers being recipient of scholarships so they could pursue their studies as well as their swimming.
“We need more of our swimmers receiving scholarships and this year we are definitely going to secure more scholarships for our swimmers. Our coaches will also benefit from education programmes to increase their knowledge,” said Persaud.

He stated that more plans are in the pipeline but this year Guyana swimming will be piloted in the right direction with the bigger goal of qualifying for the 2020 Olympics in mind.
“We have to get it right this year and 2018 so that in 2020 we are not going on free tickets but on qualifying times from multiple Guyanese swimmers,” finished Persaud.
With the first preliminary swim meet set tentatively for February, the eyes of the swimming fraternity will be on Persaud as he attempts to lead Guyana’a swimming into a much desired brighter future.