The Antigua and Barbuda Swimming Federation (ABSF) has selected the national team to compete at the 29th Annual OECS Swimming Championships, which will be held November 8th to 10th at the Shrewsbury Aquatic Center in St. Vincent.
The team is comprised of Keitonya Skepple, Marion Belgrave, Brielle Martin and Sienna West in the Girls 8 & Under category, while Zahid Derrick, Horatio Reynolds, and Jamie Tranter will compete for the boys in the same age category. In the 9 to 10-year-old category, Selah Wiltshire, Madison MacMillan, Ellie Shaw and Isabelle Bremner represent for the girls while Espriit Shaw, Adrian Karam, Davien Barton and Marley Richardson will represent the boys.
The Girls 11 – 12 age group consists of Aunjelique Lidde, Jemaria Jackson, Sydnee Hessee, and Alandra Dublin while the boys consist of Naeem D’Souza and Ethan Stubbs-Green. Hailey Derrick, Angelique Gittens, Arianna John and Kimberlee Warner will represent the girls in the 13 – 14 category while Tony Goodwin, Osayba Browne, and Yacine Williams will represent the boys.
The 15 – 17 age group is comprised of Olivia Fuller and Anisa Lewis for the girls and Brandon Derrick and Joshua Edwards for the boys. There were no girls selected for the 18 & over age group, however, Daryl Appleton and J’Air Smith will represent for the boys.
Several alternates were identified: 8 & Under Boys – Ruben Edwards, 9 – 10 Girls – Prapti Sapalya, 9 – 10 Boys – Logan Langlois, 11 – 12 Girls – Emily Gaillard, 11 – 12 Boys – Chase Gaillard, 15- 17 Girls – Neriah Sandin, and 15 – 17 Boys – Jonathan Edwards.
Alternates will practice with the national team, and travel to the meet should a selected member of the team become unavailable for any reason.
The Head Coach for the 2019 OECS Antigua and Barbuda Team is Nelson Molina. He will be ably assisted by Coach Mark Mitchell and Coach Terrell Bruno.
“We have a very young team but they are all focused and eager to compete. Unfortunately, many of our top swimmers are away at school and were not able to travel for the meet, so that had an impact on our older age groups, but we will still have a competitive squad in the younger age groups and we look forward to seeing how they perform on the larger stage,” Coach Molina said.
ABSF Vice-President of Pools and Team Manager, Darren Derrick, commented, “This is the largest national team that we field each year but it is probably the one that generates the most excitement, as much of the team is comprised of the younger swimmers, with many of them traveling for an away swim meet for the first time.
“Due to the short time between our Invitational and the OECS meet, the logistics and planning are very challenging, and I would like to commend the entire Travel and Budgetary Committee for all of their hard work.”
The 29th edition of the OECS Swimming Championships is being hosted by the Saint Vincent and The Grenadines Swimming Federation and all member states of the OECS have been invited.
As well, an invitation to Sint Maarten and St Martin, to compete as a guest team, was extended by the Federation. Swimmers representing Sint Maartin and St Martin will be eligible for medals but the team will not be eligible for the team championships or individual age group championships.
The Competition will be conducted in accordance with FINA Rules in force at the start of the competition.
Defending champions, Grenada, will be hoping to secure a fifth consecutive title, while Antigua and Barbuda, who placed second in 2018, will hope to get their first title.
http://www.antiguaobserver.com
