Goodwill Swimming Championships special, says Lyn
Published:Friday | August 18, 2023 | 12:09 AMLivingston Scott/Gleaner Writer
The 2023 Goodwill Swimming Championships get under way today at the National Aquatics Centre, and president of the Aquatics Sports of Jamaica (ASAJ) Martin Lyn described the championship as special, while noting that Jamaica is very motivated for the event.
Nine countries will be competing at this year’s three-day meet, including defending champions Trinidad and Tobago, Bahamas, Barbados, Guyana, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Suriname and Turks and Caicos. The opening ceremony will take place at 4:30 this afternoon.
Jamaica finished a close second to hosts Trinidad and Tobago at the previous championships, and Lyn said the intention is to turn the tables on their main rivals.
“The Goodwill Swimming Championships is an invitational meet, so it is not open to everybody.
“Jamaica is fortunate to be a part of that organisation. It is a special kind of championships and we are very happy to be hosting it here in Jamaica,” he said.
“Preparations went very well but what is important is that Jamaica is very pumped up for these games. Our focus is to win it. So we want to get the most medals.”
He noted that Jamaica has a very good track record of hosting international competitions and he expects the meet to be run professionally and efficiently.
“A lot of invitations have gone out to various members of the fraternity and we have been having very good responses.
“All our different committees have responded excellently but, because it is a smaller set of games, it is easily accommodated by the ASAJ and the various committees headed by Georgia Sinclair, our vice-president.
“So it is fortunate that we can host these championships, and usually these events make a little profit for us and that profit is usually used to offset some of the expenses going forward,” Lyn said.
At last year’s Goodwill Swim meet in Couva, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica ended with a massive medal haul of 92: 33 gold, 37 silver and 22 bronze. Prior to this 26th edition, Jamaica’s highest tally was 65 medals at the 2019 staging in Suriname. The team amassed a total of 1,002 points to finish second behind the hosts who won with 1,442. Barbados were third with 723.