‘Our athletes did their best’

JAMAICA’S SWIM team coach Gillian Millwood says she is proud of her charges’ accomplishments at the three-day Goodwill Swimming Championships in St Lucia recently.

Jamaica finished fourth on the points table, a drop in position from its second-place finish a year ago.

“What stood out to me was the 141 personal bests. Our athletes did their best given their preparation, nerves, and all the surrounding experiences. We took two age group high point trophies via Addison Thomas and Captain Renae Chung,” said Millwood.

Jamaica managed to amass a total of 49 medals inclusive of 20 gold, 14 silver, and 15 bronze. In the process, the team racked up 798 points behind champions Bahamas (1485.5), second-place finishers Trinidad and Tobago (902.5), and Barbados, who took third (894).

According to Millwood, Jamaica, who went to the championships with 35 representatives, should have had a bigger team.

“We must go to this meet with 40 swimmers. This development meet is an additional cultural and achievement opportunity. Plus, it’s a springboard to the greatness of the Carifta, Central American and Caribbean Swimming Federation, college levels, and gives impetus for us building the depth of our programme, which is the original vision of joining goodwill,” Millwood added.

Jamaica was also able to register four meet records, while each member of the team managed to step on the medal podium, this, Millwood believes, was a move in the right direction, especially for the debutants in the team.

“The swimmers had a good time. Especially the first-time participants, everyone was able to get a medal through relay and individual efforts. So it’s only up from here for them all,” Millwood suggested.

The highly competitive level, however, didn’t come as a surprise as prior to the team leaving the island, vice-president of the Aquatic Sports Association of Jamaica, Hillary Brown-Nixon, explained that the Goodwill Games often springs exceptional performances.

“The Goodwill Games are quite competitive. Last year, we saw some excellent performances, and some of those kids were swimming times that were faster than in the Carifta, Central American and Caribbean Swimming Federation. Therefore, it’s very competitive because a lot of countries use the games as a stepping stone towards the Carifta,” Brown-Nixon had said.

orane.buchanan@gleanerjm.com