History has been created in St. Kitts and Nevis.
For the first time ever, St. Kitts and Nevis will be represented in a regional swimming competition.
The 30th OECS swim competition will be held in St. Lucia during the period Friday 11th to Sunday 13th November.
After several months of earnest training and regular assessments from one international coach and several local coaches, three youthful individuals left Nevis on Thursday 10th November, en route to St. Lucia, to be a part of the competition.
The swimmers are Justin Williams, Austin Williams and Skyla Connor.
Accompanying the swimmers are Winston Crooke, President of St. Kitts and Nevis Swimming Federation;
International Swimming Coach-Yashwant Daryanani; Local Swim Coaches-James Weekes and Nedd Lestrade and Danielle Connor as chaperones.
Host St. Lucia has won the tournament 13 times thus far and are confident that this year will be no exception.
The competition will be guided by FINA rules and will see swimmers compete in the following categories:
8 and under
9 to 10
11 to 12
13 to 14
15 to 17
18 and over
Age groups for the relay activities are:
10 and under; 11 to 14 and 15 and over.
Over ten countries are set to participate in the competition, including St. Kitts and Nevis, Grenada, Antigua and Barbuda, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and host St. Lucia. Other invited countries include St. Maarten.
According to President Crooke, the coaches worked overtime with the swimmers who were indeed dedicated to the task and willing to put in the hard work in order to qualify.
He said that just making it to the competition, is he achievement in itself.
International Coach, Yashwant Daryanani, feels that his work with the youngsters has paid dividends.
He encouraged the swimmers to give their best in the competition, but most of all, to enjoy the moment and have fun.