ASAJ targets international meets
Published:Wednesday | December 16, 2020 | 12:13 AMLivingston Scott/Gleaner Writer
Martin Lyn, president of the Aquatic Sports Association of Jamaica (ASAJ), said the association was taking all the necessary steps to ensure local swimmers get back into international competition for 2021.
Lyn said they aim to have teams at the CARIFTA Games, CCCN and the Junior Pan Am Games, even though the teams might be slightly reduced due to the financial constraints cause by the coronavirus pandemic.
“Junior Pan Am Games will be held in Colombia later on in the year and, of course, the Olympics are slated to be held as well; plus, there are regional championships like CCCN that also indicated that they are slated to go ahead,” Lyn said.
“So CARIFTA next year, we will definitely be sending athletes to it, and in terms of CCCN, definitely, we will have some swimmers going,” he added. “For Junior Pan Am, we are seeking some funding from FINA to help us send a very good team to those particular games because the standard will be very high.”
However, Lyn admitted that funding may present some difficulties and could result in smaller teams being sent to these competitions.
“At this point in time, everyone is scrambling around to get sponsorship, as sponsors have withdrawn a lot because of the pandemic. The smaller the team, the more likely we will get sponsorship and support for it, because one of the problem we have always faced is the amount of people we sent to CARIFTA.
“There are swimmers, officials, physio, medical personnel and team managers, so by the time you look around, it is a 40-odd-man delegation and that has always been difficult to finance. But in the past, sponsors have come on board to partially finance it and the parents would finance the difference,” Lyn noted.
“So if there is a smaller team going for one reason or the other, then the likelihood of us finding sponsorship and finding funding is much greater,” he said, while noting their call to the sport’s global authority for assistance.
“We have reached out to FINA to help finance the team to Colombia when that comes around sometime in September. But in terms of attending, the parents will have to be cognisant of the rules, regulations and protocols, and they can decide whether they are sending the athletes or not,” he added.
Some swimmers are already participating internationally, with a number them travelling to Barbados to compete in a development meet last weekend. Now, with the national pool open for training activity, Lyn expects local swimmers to be in good condition when the association calls on them for overseas competitions.
“The fact of the matter is that the pool has been opened, so our swimmers have been training. So in terms of our swimmers being fit and ready for international competition, we will be fit and ready for any regional championship. The ASAJ will certainly be represented,” Lyn said.