TT Goodwill swim captain hails team’s resilience

Yesterday, Subway and the Amateur Swimming Association of Trinidad and Tobago held a recognition ceremony at the Centre of Excellence for the successful national junior swimmers.

Morean, who was a member of the 15 to 17 girls team said all the preparation leading up to the meet paid off. Morean said, “All the athletes would have worked extremely hard in preparation for these games, and as the saying goes ‘hard work breeds success.’ The respective coaches all pushed us and I make special mention of my club coach Mark Alexis of the Tsunami Swim Club.” Morean recalled the challenges the team had to overcome such as a sudden change in the start time of the meet. “Guyana to many of us taught us what it meant to adjust with the challenges that confronted us. For instance the meet was scheduled to start at 6 pm on the opening day, but suddenly we were told that the starting time was brought forward to 3.30 pm because there were no lights. Also the water in the pool was extremley hot at times.” Despite the challenges in Guyana, the 40-member TT team were resilient and finished with 105 medals to finish on top of the medal standings, followed by Suriname and Guyana.

Morean said it was an honour for her to be selected as the captain of the team. “It was indeed a memorable, fun-filled experience for me. This was my second time representing my country, but my first as captain, an opportunity I embraced.” Coach Sharntelle Mclean was proud of her team for their positive attitude in Guyana. Mclean said, “It was very intense for matters outside our control, but the swimmers remained focused and they had one target, one goal at hand and they definitely answered to that. The swimmers amidst all that they had to take on with regards to the sun, with regards to changes in events, changes in the schedule of the meet they were still able to focus. They were motivated to bring home the fourth title and for that congratulations to you definitely.” Morean and Mclean thanked all the supporters and sponsors that helped make their trip a success.