| SPORT | SWIMMING |
| AFFILIATE | Amateur Swimming Association of Trinidad and Tobago |
| PRESIDENT | Lyndsay Galleet |
| SECRETARY | Gregory Mitchell |
| CONTACT | |
| MAILING ADDRESS | P.O Box 244 Wrightson Road, Port of Spain |
| secretary.asatt@gmail.com | |
| WEBSITE | http://www.swimtt.com |
Team TTO swimmers Dylan Carter and Cherelle Thompson will splash into action on local shores next Friday.
The Amateur Swimming Association of Trinidad and Tobago (ASATT) hosts its Long Course (LC 50m course) Time Trials on that day while ASATT will also stage a Short Course (SC 25m course) Time Trials...
HAVING ENDURED six weeks of intense competition at the International Swimming League (ISL) in Hungary, Tokyo-bound swimmer Dylan Carter is deeply motivated to return to the pool in anticipation of next year’s Olympic Games.
Carter and his Los Angeles Current (LAC) team concluded their ISL campaign at the Duna Arena in Budapest last weekend. There, he splashed to two gold medals and a bronze in the 4x100-metre freestyle, a pair of silver medals (50m, 100m backstroke) and racked up several personal and season-best times.
The 24-year-old returned to TT from his hectic schedule, on Thursday, and is presently in quarantine for seven days. Once he returns a negative covid19 test result, the national swimmer will be allowed to head home to his family.
He plans to take a short but well-deserved rest but has his mind set on resuming training before the Christmas holiday. Carter will represent TT in the 100m freestyle at next year’s Summer Games.
The national swimmer is unsure what his early 2021 competitive schedule may look like since several countries are facing a significant resurgence in covid19 cases and are tightening restrictions.
He has no intention of losing any form and competitive momentum, having executed several impressive performances at the ISL.
“A couple days off is fitting and needed. I’m refocusing because I don’t know when I’m going to get another chance to race. I need to get back in the water and continue to improve.
“When you race this much at the ISL, you learn so much and have to take that right back into training. The improvements you make over those weeks of racing, once you reapply it to training, it’s going to pay off in the next season.
“After a week or ten days off, I’m going to try to be back in the water working towards being faster for next year at the Olympics,” he said.
At the moment, it’s the uncertainty of pro competition in the near future that fuels his passion to continue training. According to Carter, the more training he can put in at the National Aquatic Centre in Couva, the higher his chances of extending his good run of form in the pool.
This will be Carter’s second stint at the Olympic Games having previously competed at the 2016 edition in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The pandemic did restrict his training regime on the US circuit but the TT swimmer has no intention of using covid19 as a scapegoat excuse.
He believes the ISL served as a good competitive gauge for himself since scores of qualified and potential Olympians used this meet as preparation ahead of the Summer Games.
“We’re all experiencing the pandemic so this should be no excuse for any athlete. My goals are to do the best I can do, amidst all the challenges I, and other athletes have faced over the past couple months.
“Swimming is a sport I love and am grateful for. It’s given so much to me. I appreciate the sport and I live it. It gives me a great sense of self-fulfillment to see how far I could go with it and what level of mastery I can achieve. That keeps me going,” he added.
The LAC representative also highlighted the accomplishments of the Caribbean’s most successful swimmer, George Bovell III, for being an inspiration and mentor to him in the early stages of his athletic career.
Bovell III is an Olympic bronze medallist (2004 in Athens, Greece) and former world record holder. He is TT’s lone Olympic swimming medallist, as well as a two-time World Championship bronze medallist and a record five-time Olympian.
Overall, Bovell III has been in ten World Championship finals since his first in 2001 and has bagged six Pan American Games medals (two gold, two silver and two bronze) along with eight Central American and Caribbean Games medals (three gold, two silver and three bronze), both over three editions of the events.
“George has been nothing but motivation for me, as a mentor and showing me the ropes," said Carter. "As a youngster, it was important, when I first started travelling and representing TT at the international level, to have George there, to show me how to walk the walk and talk the talk.
"Those first years when George and I were around the team together, (that) laid the foundation for me for the rest of my career,” he said.
Just as Bovell III’s exploits inspired Carter to chase his dreams, the TT swimmer hopes his journey can also have a positive impact on youth swimmers within the region.
“A big part of me does it to inspire a generation. I’m incredibly honoured that I could be the one, or hope to be the one, doing that to young athletes at home. Swimming will take you far if you give a little bit of yourself into it.
“That’s a big part of what motivates me. Showing these kids where you can go with it now. Now there’s a professional league. When George was swimming that wasn’t even around. Swimming is bigger and has more opportunity than ever before,” he concluded.
JONATHAN RAMNANANSINGH
AFTER completing a hectic six-week competitive campaign at the International Swimming League (ISL) in Hungary, Olympic-bound swimmer (100m freestyle) Dylan Carter returns to TT on Thursday.
Carter will spend seven days in quarantine and will be tested for covid19. Once he returns a negative result, the national swimmer will be allowed to head home to his family.
The in-form athlete anticipates his arrival to TT having spent over a year in the US, owing to the pandemic.
Carter spent the last two days in Florida finalising his travel documents and securing a mandatory covid19 test to guarantee his entry into TT. The 24-year-old applied for his travel exemptions several months ago and was able to attain such.
He represented Los Angeles Current (LAC) at the just concluded ISL and splashed to double-gold, double-silver and a bronze while also racking up several personal and season-best times.
Carter is eager to come home but a bit nervous to enter seven days quarantine.
“I haven’t seen my family all year and I’m looking forward to it. It’s going to be emotional. However, I wish I could stay in the water during my seven-day quarantine because it might keep me sane,” he said.
Over the past 12 months, the TT swimmer experienced a roller coaster of emotions dealing with the postponement of the 2020 Olympic Games. From heading to training before 5 am, putting in hours of work and years of sacrifice, Carter said staying motivated was his biggest challenge.
“I’ve been training since my childhood. This (Olympics) has been something I’ve been working towards my whole life. When it was postponed, a lot of athletes struggled with motivation.
“That news (postponement) really threw me off in March. Getting over that and then refocusing for the ISL, which we still weren’t even sure was going to happen, I had to refocus,” he added.
Before the ISL, training pools were shut down in the US. Carter and his team-mates were allowed to train in San Diego in a 22m backyard pool owned by a friend of the team’s coach.
They trained three times a week for 40 minutes each day, for two months. As compared to the squad’s original training regime of a couple hours daily, these sessions were very limited but, according to Carter, it aided the team in realising the importance of rest.
“It was really limited but we made it work. We were doing half as much as we normally do. But it was more than enough to improve once you do it in a focused, purposeful way and in a smart timeframe. This was a wake-up call for us as well.
“Sometimes, as athletes, we get caught up in doing a lot. I think the rest benefitted a lot of people and the ISL was really fast this year. Overall, I’m super satisfied to achieve some personal best times. The relays were fun and the meet was at a super high level,” he said.
Carter will make his second appearance at an Olympic Games in 2021 having competed at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro edition.
Having conquered the many emotions surrounding the Games’ postponement, Carter now feels rejuvenated. He welcomes the Tokyo schedule shift and believes the extra time provided to train was indeed a blessing in disguise.
“At this time last year, the ISL season one was completed. If I could compare myself from the end of 2019 to the end of 2020, I’m way more confident to enter the Olympics than I was last year.
“Off the back of these performances over the past six weeks, the fourth-place finish in the final (100m freestyle), my world rankings are a lot better this year and my Olympic event is a lot stronger. I’m feeling really confident, more than I’ve ever felt, and I anticipate getting into the long course pool,” he concluded.
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