– From the ‘Mines’ to Athens

By Rawle Toney

BURSTING onto the scenes during his campaign at the National Schools Swimming Championship, Onan Orlando Thom took Guyana’s swimming scenes by storm and created a name for himself and Linden. 

Hailing from the Coomacka Mines area, Thom etched his name in Guyana’s swimming history books; breaking and rewriting records, while at the same time being the poster boy for the Guyana Amateur Swimming Association (GASA) in his prime.

As a student of New Silvercity Secondary, Thom was taken under the wings of Charles Corbin, who saw his potential and enrolled him in school in Trinidad and Tobago and allowed him to work with some of the best coaches in the Twin Island Republic.

It was while in Trinidad that he grabbed the attention of the rest of the Caribbean, especially after going head-to-head with the Bovell brothers Nathan and George – both Olympians. George Bovell is the more decorated of the two, having won bronze at the 2004 Olympics.

At 19, Thom represented Guyana at the 2003 World Championship in Barcelona, Spain. The following year, he competed at the 2004 Olympic Games (Men’s 100m freestyle) in Athens, Greece.

In 2005, he won Guyana’s first medal (bronze) at the Islamic Solidarity Games in the Holy City of Mecca. In fact, it was the inaugural hosting of the event.

Despite regional and international experience and success, including another shot at the World Championships in 2007 in Australia, Thom just stopped loving the sport and walked away.

“Many things made me stop loving swimming. But one of the main reasons was financial support. I remember plenty schools all over the US wanted me, but I didn’t have the money to get certain things done and to pay,” Thom said in an exclusive interview with Chronicle Sport.

“I don’t know. The passion just wasn’t there any more, I had other issues at home to deal with and focusing on swimming was hard. I just stopped loving the one sport I used to dream about,” said Thom, who isn’t known for talking much, let alone about his life as a swimmer.

“Much respect to Mr Corbin, you know, he believed in me and paved a way. He helped and did as much as he could, but I don’t know, man. When I couldn’t get to raise the money to attend the University, it really bothered me and I just couldn’t really focus like I used to. Even while I was in Trinidad, you know, things happened and I just stopped loving swimming,” Thom reasoned.

Fast forward to around 2011, Thom had turned to a life of crime, most of which he said were pure allegations.

After his face had appeared on a number of wanted bulletins by the Guyana Police Force, many sports fans in and around Guyana, upon recognising him, began to enquire what went wrong with the once ‘wonder boy’ from Linden.

However, after two stints of incarceration, Thom said he took a time-out and reflected on his life and decided to turn things around.
“Honestly, after the second time on remand, I spent about eight months in jail. Truth be told, many of the things they said I did, I didn’t do. Honestly.

“But after the second time, I said to myself that I need to do better, so I just took an entire year just to myself and focused on getting myself together,” the soft-spoken former National swimmer said.

“I just decided to be a better person, and start focusing on my children. I’m a single parent now. I have three kids, but one of my daughters and my son lives with me. I take care of them full time now, so I’m just focusing on being there for them and that’s it,” Thom noted.

His two daughters, both age 12, but weeks apart, were successful at the recent National Grade Six Assessment, where they gained passes to St Rose’s High and New Silvercity Secondary.

“I tried to push one of the girls into swimming (but she’s not into it) and my nine-year-old son to see where that goes, but whatever they choose to do, I’ll support them.”

The 36-year-old said he’s still interested in imparting his knowledge to others, or those willing to learn, telling Chronicle Sport, “I am always here if anyone wants to learn from me. I would teach some kids from time-to-time, because I believe that I have a lot to offer the swimmers in Linden. I know what it takes to compete at a high level and how hard it is to travel this world and swim, especially coming from Linden.”

Meanwhile, Thom is cautioning other athletes, to make use of their chances, while issuing a resounding call for athletes to be supported, especially financially, in pursuit of their dreams.