Marsh backs Lyn as ASAJ president

Former Aquatic Sports Association of Jamaica (ASAJ) first vice-president of swimming, Allan-Roy Marsh, has said that newly elected president Martin Lyn is the right man for the job.

Marsh, who was a part of Lyn's administration up to December 2015, said that he had always sought to hear the concerns of any stakeholders who raised them.

"I can only go on the past record of Mr Lyn. I worked with him and if there was one thing he did, if there was a concern of any stakeholder, he always brought it up and we always went through it. Sometimes, it delayed us in implementing decisions until all the stakeholders had a voice, and all the concerns were raised (and addressed). We found that that was something that was practised both by Mr Lyn and John Eyre, the previous president before him."

Marsh said that he trusts Lyn to carry through his promises in his campaigning, especially that of rectifying ambiguities which exist within ASAJ's constitution.

"The thing about a constitution, and as you know in any sporting organisation, is things happen, times change and we have to move with the times," he said. "One of the things about the new executive, which the new president had indicated that he was going to look very closely at, is the areas where there are loopholes in the constitution, to bring it in line with the current practice of voting. So that's something we look forward to as stakeholders, that things are brought in, that makes it compatible with an active and competitive swimming association."

The Olympian said that one of the values that ASAJ had lacked under the previous administration was transparency, this is with regard to allegations of misappropriation of funds from sponsorship.

"One of the areas that was of a concern to the stakeholders was the fact that some significant amount of funds was allocated to purchase gym equipment and there was no gym identified, no location, and I think that's an area they're (the new ASAJ administration) gonna have to deal with. Not sure how that's gonna happen though.

"The other area of concern was just making things clear. One of the things that was stated in the media before this election was that the previous administration left the association in the red (debt). What came out tonight was that when you look at the audited reports from 2015, there was a significant surplus available and it was inherited by the previous administration. That has to also be cleared because one of the important things is that sponsors are always looking for clarity and ensuring that there is integrity whenever they're investing their money in a sport, which they hope will give them good commercial returns. Fortunately, in swimming over the years, we have been able to give a number of companies very strong returns in terms of positive publicity, both in terms of the achievements of our athletes and the integrity of our officials."