Source: www.trinidadexpress.com
Bovell, who trains with Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs Anil Roberts, will actually swim on the final day of the five-day meet next Sunday as he gets some racing ahead of the July 16-31 FINA World Long Course Swimming Championships in Shanghai, China.
It will be the first of three racing opportunities as he is scheduled to compete in the Italian Open in Pescare, Italy from June 17, before heading to the Paris Open in France from June 26-27.
Bovell, bronze medallist in the 200m individual medley at the 2004 Athens Olympics, said he wants to inspire T&T's up and coming swimmers, as well as gauge his progress on the way to China.
"Hopefully it will be exciting for the young swimmers at the meet and an opportunity for me to see what time I can post up in order to test where I am in my preparation for 'World Champs'," he said.
"The one race is sufficient to do this without spending the whole weekend at the pool."
Bovell said competing locally is great for the sport and keeps him in touch with "his humble swimming roots".
But Bovell said there are some challenges to be overcome.
"I will have to utilise different technique in my dive, for example, than what I will use later in the summer at the World Champs (because of the different starting blocks). Also, the conditions of the pool will also be different. But the main difference for me is the level of excitement. It all has to come from within. It's harder to get up and swim fast without big prizes and stiff competition to push you and only the desire to swim a good time."
Bovell, who said training with Roberts has been great as the Olympic coach brings great knowledge and energy, said he expects to push himself over the coming weekend as he completes his final week of intense preparation.
"I think it's (training) going well. I will be coming in slightly tired and in my last hard week of training before heading off to race in Europe to fine-tune and practice on proper blocks before the upcoming Worlds."
More than 200 swimmers are expected to join Bovell at the National Age Group Long Course Championships, which has been sanctioned by FINA as a World Champs qualifier and which will see swimmers from Guyana, St Lucia and the USA competing against the best from Trinidad and Tobago.
Local swimmers will also be seeking to qualify for the FINA World Youth Championships in Peru in August, the Commonwealth Youth Games in Isle of Man in September, and the Pan Am Games in Puerto Rico in October.
Yesterday, T&T swimmers had their last opportunity at qualifying for the region's top age-group championships, CCCAN Champion-ships, scheduled for Mayaguez, Puerto Rico from June 25-July 2.
The one-day time trial took place at St. Michael Swimming Pool Facility, San Fernando.
Trinidad and Tobago are expected to field a small team for next month's competition in Puerto Rico and will be hard-pressed to match their 2009 CCCAN performance in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, where they achieved their best-ever placing, second overall with a record haul of 54 medals consisting of 16 gold, 23 silver and 15 bronze.
Also on this weekend is the annual Aquatic Centre Invitational in Barbados, which started Friday and is also a qualifier for the FINA World Long Course Championships.
Two clubs from T&T, Tiger Sharks and Atlantis Aquatics, with Joshua McLeod in their line-up, travelled to Barbados for the Invitational.