SUNDAY was a milestone day for swimming in Guyana with the sport here, which has been plagued with several administrative challenges, getting a shot in the arm with the establishment of a first-of-its-kind athlete’s commission.
The move is intended to bring more athletes voice and representation at the highest level of the sport, said the executive level of The Guyana Amateur Swimming Association (GASA).
The swimmers that turned up for the body’s establishment duly elected Fitroy Thom as its chairman, Latisha Blair as vice chair and Daniel Scott as Secretary.

The governing body of the sport locally, GASA is currently following a set of recommendations by PANAM Sports for it to become once again recognised by the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) and the National Sports Commission (NSC).
Head of GASA Yolema Phillips says this pioneering move will go a long way in getting them back on track, adding, “This marks a significant milestone in the organisation’s ongoing commitment to athletes’ representation and development, this pioneering initiative empower athletes with a formal platform to voice their perspectives, contribute to decision making and help shape the future of swimming in Guyana.”

She says this strengthens what they are able to do at the executive level and create a further layer of accountability for the management of the sport, adding that, “When the athletes committee chair serves on the counsel with votes and rights, athletes gain meaningful representation in high level decision that affect their career, this enhances organisational credibility, improved policy relevance and strengths athletes trust and a good functioning athletes committees shows a commitment to good governance principles through inclusive decision making and ultimately producing more athletes centered policy and sustainable sporting development.”

In September of 2024, The National Sport Commission stripped the swimming body as a core sport after they reportedly made several attempts at interventions to have several issues addressed.
In a joint statement then, the National Sports Commission (NSC) and the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) in September of that year escalated the matter saying that they no longer recognised GASA as a sports association in good standing after meeting with several stakeholders of the sport.
Following that, the rebuilding effort of GASA began with the regional governing body for swimming PANAM Aquatics earlier this year dolling out several measures for the sport.

The recommendations included establishing and publishing a calendar of domestic events that GASA intends to host, with a prospectus that clearly outlines deadlines for registration, competition rules, mandates, and all information about the event.
They were also encouraged to ensure that there are non-biased and nondiscriminatory policies and procedures in place for athlete selection and the Selection Criteria Policy must be published on GASA’s website and/or circulated to all members to ensure a fair system of athlete selection to allow the best athletes to represent Guyana.