SVGSF prepares to host OECS Swim Championships
The St Vincent and the Grenadines Swimming Federation (SVGSF) is pulling out the stops to ensure it stages the 26th edition of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Swim Championships, November 11 to 13 at the Shrewsbury Aquatic Centre at Ratho Mill.{{more}}
The SVGSF tested some of its technical capabilities last weekend with the staging of the Flow Invitational Swim Championships from Friday to Sunday.
Local swimmers from the Black Sands Swim Squad, Blue Marlins and the Bequia United Swim Club were able to pit their skills against representative clubs from Barbados, St Luca and Grenada and unattached competitors over the three-day period.
There are, as well, some infrastructural preparations taking place, as the SVGSF is in the process of constructing a warm-up /cool-down pool to cater for the championships.
Previously known as the Shrewsbury pool, the facility, which had the basic structures, was commissioned as a swim venue in January 2012, with four lanes.
However, the poolâs length was just short of the required 25 metres.
The SVGSF fulfilled the requirements to host the OECS Championships by correcting the length of the pool and adding two lanes to make it a six-lane facility.
Other amenities, included covered seating, were added, hence the name change to the Shrewsbury Aquatic Centre (SAC). Its opening last September paved the path for SVGSF to bid for the hosting of the sub-regional championships for the first time.
Expected to compete for honours in this yearâs OECS championships are Grenada, St Lucia, the British Virgin Islands, along with Martinique and host SVG.
Invitations have been extended to both St Maarten and St Martin to be part of the three days of competition.(RT)
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