Four swimmers representing Antigua and Barbuda will depart for Gwangju,
South Korea on Monday, to compete at 18th FINA world Championships to be held the state-ofthe-art Nambu University Municipal Aquatics Centre from July 21-28, 2019.
The four-member team of swimmers comprises Samantha Roberts, Olivia Fuller, Noah
Mascoll Gomes and Stefano Mitchell. Travelling with the team is Head Coach Mark Mitchell
and Team Manager AnnaMaria Mitchell.
Speaking ahead of the team’s departure on Monday (15th July, 2019), Coach Mitchell
said, “Sam, Olivia, Noah and Stefano have all recently competed at CCCAN and performed well, so I am very excited to see how they will perform against the world’s best in Gwangju. While the meets are extremely close on the calendar and the travel time to South Korea is long, I know that Antigua and Barbuda is being represented well, and our swimmers will deliver great performances.”
He added, “CCCAN offered the swimmers a chance to compete in a 50 metre
pool against a high level of competition and that was a boost to their confidence.”
The FINA World Championships occurs every two years and is the premier event for
aquatic sports, outside of the Olympics. This year, under the banner of “Dive into peace”,
15,000 athletes from more than 200 countries will compete is what is billed as the ‘biggest
aquatics festival in history’. Six aquatic sports, to include swimming, open-water swimming,
water polo, diving, high diving, and artistic swimming, will compete in 5 venues in Gwangju. 42
gold medals will be up for grabs in the various pool-based swimming disciplines, and the
competition will hosts the top names in swimming as they seek glory and prepare for the
upcoming Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan in 2010.
President of the Antigua and Barbuda Swimming Federation (ABSF), Dr. Derek Marshall
congratulated the swimmers on their selection to the national team and wished them well. “On
behalf of the entire ABSF Executive, and the national swim fraternity, I would like to
congratulate all the swimmers on their selection to the National Team. I know that they will
carry Antigua and Barbuda’s flag with pride, and they will do the nation proud,” he said.
Adding, “Being able to send a team to regional and international events, especially the World
Championships, is an important step in the development of swimming and I urge everyone to
support the swimmers heading to Gwangju.”
The nation’s two-member national swim team for the 2020 Olympics will be chosen
from the four competitors attending the World Championships in Gwangju.
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Antigua and Barbuda swimming is next represented on the world stage at the 2019 Pan
American Games in Lima, Peru (July 26th to August 11th, 2019 and then in Budapest, Hungary for
the 7th FINA Junior World Swimming Championships (August 20th – 25th, 2019
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Just keep this in mind: “SWIM! SHARK A COME”
Best wishes. Bring home plenty medals. Gold ones.
Notes From A Native Son Of The Rock!
To Samantha Roberts, Olivia Fuller, Noah Mascoll Gomes and Stefano Mitchell! Success and All The Best!
“We have been here for some twenty generations in the case of the Spanish speaking islands and some fifteen generation in the English and French speaking islands. The Amerindians occupied these islands for some forty generations prior to the arrival of Columbus. … It is apparent that they lived in equilibrium with the environment …” – UWI – FOUN1101 – CARIBBEAN CIVILIZATION!
Time to change our Strategies and Paradigms not only in Sports but moreso as we move quickly towards a Blue and Green Economy! Our Rock, surrounded by the Caribbean and Atlantic Ocean, beckons us to understand our geological history and our expectant ecological future! We are a mere dot in a world where the Seas and Oceans cover 71 percent of the Earth’s surface, contain 97 percent of the Earth’s water, contain 99 percent of the living space on the planet and where, less than 1 percent of the Earth’s water is fresh water! We should use our resources wisely, strategically and play to our hidden talents and strengths!
“Water, water, everywhere, And all the boards did shrink; Water, water, everywhere, Nor any drop to drink.”
― Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner! Coleridge uses these lines to describe a situation in which someone is in the midst of plenty but cannot partake of it! You be Da Judge If we are fully utilizing and sharing in our bounty of natural treasures!
Yes Sir, Mr. Minister, In this the International Decade for People of African Descent 2015 -2024, we proudly hailed, saluted, congratulated and rejoiced in the triumphant voyage of our four young women, the first all female descendants of Africans with only one certified mariner, who successfully rowed across the “Middle Passage!” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0PPpIm7wsI
Some 20 years ago, this mere voice in the wilderness, urged the Chair of the Olympic Committee, the Minister of Sports and since then, like the ancient Mariner anyone who would listen that we needed to change our sports Paradigm given our maritime MARKING – our environmental and cultural boundary around our particular cultural space in human time, and our direction in Tourism, Hospitality and Yachting Industry! A well kept secret: We hold, outside of Panama in the Caribbean, the largest shipping Registry, yet we have no certified mariners plying the seas.
Yes Sir, Mr. Minister, Honourable Daryll Sylvester Matthew, Minister of Minister of Sports, Culture, National Festivals AND the Arts, act boldly with resolve and bring about a change in our sports paradigm to lead the rest of the Caribbean back to its Maritime Cultural Roots!
“What natural responses would occur in the relationships, attitudes toward the environment, (Aquatic Sports) and historical referent points for (English Speaking Caribbean) people if there had not been any intervention of colonialism or enslavement?” – Asante!
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