Rasheed Dwyer pacing himself for big season
Published:Tuesday | February 15, 2022 | 12:11 AMRobert Bailey/Gleaner Writer
EXPERIENCED JAMAICAN sprinter Rasheed Dwyer says he is taking a much smarter approach to his preparations for this year’s track and field season, with the aim of remaining injury-free in what is a World Championship year.
Dwyer, who finished seventh in last year’s 200-metre Olympic final in Tokyo, Japan, has been hampered by a series of injuries over the last couple of seasons.
The 33-year-old Dwyer opened his season with 10.52 seconds to win the men’s 100 metres at the Western Relays at the G.C. Foster College in St Catherine yesterday.
Dwyer, who is coached by Maurice Wilson at the Sprintec Track Club, told The Gleaner his season has been going well so far. He is now focusing all his energies on Jamaica’s National Trials in June.
“I have a little bit of niggling injuries but so far things are going really well. My speed endurance is up because I am trying to get my speed to where it should be, so I am working on that,” said Dwyer.
“G.C. Foster has a lot of equipment for injuries and we have a great medical staff and so the injuries are not a problem at the moment and so I am just trying to work very smartly and keeping healthy,” he said.
Dwyer, who has personal best times of 10.10 seconds in the 100m and 19.80 seconds in the 200m, underscored that he plans on lowering his times, especially in the 100m this season.
“The 200m is my pet event but I also love the 100m and so I am actually trying to get down my 100m time to 10.0 or break the 10-second barrier this year,” he said.
Dwyer, who is the 2014 Commonwealth Games 200m champion, pointed out that despite his age, he still has a lot left in the tank.
“There is no pressure on me because I just need to go out and do what I what I have been doing over the years and just try and get down my times leading into the National Trials and just to make the team,” he said.
“Last year I made the Olympic Games 200m finals, so I basically know what I need to do to get back to that stage and even better this season,” Dwyer said.