GEORGE BOVELL III, Trinidad and Tobago’s veteran swimmer, is eyeing gold in the FINA World Championships next month.
Bovell returned home yesterday from capturing 16 medals in the FINA/Arena World Cup — seven gold and nine silver. The 29-year-old admitted that he will have no time for rest, as he will be in the gym at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo, today and, “in the next few weeks, I’ll be looking to return home with a gold medal.”
He admitted, “I felt defeated after I failed to get a medal at the London Olympics” — he placed seventh in the men’s 50-metre freestyle.
“It took a lot for me to recover from that, but I went to Doha (in Qatar), did well and everything fell into place after that.” He pointed out that he had the support, via the Internet, of his coach Anil Roberts (the Sports Minister), “when everyone else had their manager, coaches and technical staff.”
Bovell also highlighted the fact that he had to seek visas, on his own, to enter Russia and China to compete at the respective World Cup meets but felt proud that his efforts did not go to waste. He also made a plea for corporate Trinidad and Tobago to support sport. “I do not have a sponsor from Trinidad and Tobago and it will be nice to have corporate TT supporting the sportsmen, such as Keshorn Walcott, Marc Burns, Njisane Phillip and others,” he said.
By Joel Bailey
Source: www.newsday.co.tt