– Says fully compliant with PANAM recommendation

HEAD of the Guyana Amateur Swimming Association (GASA) Yolema Phillips says that the body is hopeful of turning over a new leaf as they seek to regain access to the National Aquatics Centre and be recognised by the Ministry of Culture Youth and Sport.
According to Phillips, “GASA and the ministry have not had a strong working relation for over a year however despite this, we are committed to fostering communication by sending hard and soft copies of corresponds. Unfortunately, we have not received meaningful feedback with the recent formation of a new executive body GASA remains hopeful and open to rebuilding a positive relationship with the Ministry.”
In 2024 the Guyana Amateur Swimming Association was deemed to be ‘not in good standing’ with the National Sports Commission (NSC) and Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) after several issues went unresolved.
PANAM Aquatics, the regional governing organisation for swimming, had after meeting with the local parties had tasked the local swimming body with implementing measures aimed at improving transparency, fairness and responsiveness to ensure that the local swimming body is properly recognised by both the GOA and NSC.
Philips in an update says they have implemented those recommendations and are awaiting the Ministry to again recognise the body.

“The association is fully compliant with the recommendations from PANAM aquatics. We have held several meetings with PANAM Aquatics legal board and they provided us with detailed guidance. We also have detailed a correspondence confirming their satisfaction with the steps we have taken to all outlined requirements,” she said.

She says not having access to the National Aquatics Centre has been detrimental to the younger age groups with only the overseas swimmers having an edge.

“The inability to host competitions at the National Aquatic Centre has had a significant negative impact on our athletes, many of them dedicate countless hours to training with the ultimate goal of competing and have been denied that opportunity. This has led to deep frustration, demotivation and in some cases, athletes leaving the sport all together. This development has not only affected performance but has hindered the development of competitive swimming in Guyana,”

The PANAM recommendation included establishing and publishing a calendar of domestic events with new rules for registration, competition rules and all information about the event.

It was also recommended that GASA create, publish and place a non-discriminatory Selection Criteria Policy, implement a grievance procedure as well as accept as clubs’ affiliates who previously met with GASA.

They were also strongly encouraged to meet with clubs and the government to find a balanced and fair distribution of pool use.