Pooling our resources

The refurbishing, upgrading and rebranding of the Shrewsbury Swimming facility to the Shrewsbury Aquatic Centre (SAC) could not come at a more opportune time, not only for the sport, but for St Vincent and the Grenadines.{{more}}

It comes at a time when the sport is making some ripples for St Vincent and the Grenadines regionally and whispers on the international circuit.

However, the will of the current executive of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Amateur Swimming Association to see the project to fruition must be lauded.

Getting the necessary work done to extend the pool to the full 25 metres and its attending amenities, such as electronic timers, a pavilion as well as an office, showed tenacity and will of purpose.

One may quickly argue that among the personnel of the association are persons with clout and the means to get others to buy into their proposals; hence they were operating in some calm waters.

The achievements of the association can be used as a blueprint for other national associations who endeavour to embark upon similar undertakings. The modes of transformation and transition from a dilapidated frog infested pool to an acceptable one, now to a near first-class facility, shows what can be achieved, once the efforts are exerted.

Beyond those peripherals, however, is what the facility can open for St Vincent and the Grenadines’ sports tourism product.

What it means now is that St Vincent and the Grenadines can host other territories in competition and indeed bid for the subregional OECS championships.

The SAC also gives the entire country a place on the regional sporting directory that it possesses such a facility, which can spur greater advertising of St Vincent and the Grenadines as a whole.

On a wider scale, it means that more persons can get involved in swimming, as the pool at SAC has more lanes; hence, more swimmers can be accommodated there at any given time.

Already we have seen the barrier and stigmatization of the sport as being only for an elite group of persons from the upper income bracket are slowly evaporating.

So things are positioned for a greater take-off of aquatics in St Vincent and the Grenadines.

But this cannot be left solely to the current officers of the national association, as chipping in here and there to sell the facility for swimming championships.

Obviously the facility comes with a maintenance cost, which surely is not commensurate with buying a lunch meal. Therefore, mechanisms must be set up a with template of how things are done, so that others who follow can adopt and repeat.

Also, the SAC is not complete, as further expansions should be explored and pursued.

Marking the entire land space within the precincts of the SAC must be the “down the road” intent and must be part of the long-term development of the association.

It should not be seen as far-fetched that the complete area could be turned into multiplex for aquatics. The bench-marks for progress are laid down; the foundations of the sport are strongly planted; so now the next steps are the building blocks to finish and embellish the structure.

The same way the Government of the day, the private sector and the hard-working executive of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Amateur Swimming Association all pooled their resources to establish the SAC, then the best should be yet to come.