TT swimmers head to Guyana to defend Goodwill crown

The National Goodwill Swim team heads to Guyana on Thursday for the annual Developmental Meet and coach, Sharntelle Mc Lean, described the team as "prepped and ready" for the event.

Mc Lean, a two-time Olympian and medallist at the 2017 CCCAN Championships, was also a previous Goodwill Swim Meet team member.

The Goodwill is a five-nation swim meet held every year between Barbados, Guyana, Suriname, St Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago. This year, the Bahamas will also be participating as they were invited as a guest team.

The event features the top 10-and-Under swim talents from the respective countries and also acts a developmental competition, for the 11-and-Over athletes, who may fall just outside the CARIFTA grade.

According to the ASATT website, Mc Lean stated, "The Trinidad and Tobago Goodwill 2017 Swim team have been going through race paces and have been focusing on our finishes because that's what it will come down to. They are prepped and ready to race from what the coaching team has seen."

Both Mc Lean and recent Commonwealth Youth Games medallist, Jeron Thompson, are among many talented athletes who went Goodwill as 11-and-Over athletes that managed to progress onto higher level meets. 2017 CARIFTA Gold medallist, Kadon Williams, also went to Goodwill in 2016 as an 11-12 contender.

Kami Morean and Alex Ali were selected as Senior captains, while Jordon Mc Millan and Gabriella Acosta were chosen as the Junior leaders. Morean, Ali and Mc Millan were all members of the victorious 2016 team in St Lucia, with Ali being a part of the 2015 team as well.

In addition to their regular club training sessions, team members have been training twice a week at the National Aquatic Centre in Couva, in an added effort to capture the crown for the fourth straight time. In 2014 when the meet was held in Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago won, ending a winning streak for Suriname which lasted seven years. TT went on to win the titles in 2015 and 2016 held in Trinidad and Tobago and St. Lucia, respectively.

The team departs at 3.05 pm with Caribbean Airlines and hopes to return on Monday at 9.25 am with the trophy in hand. The actual competition will be held at the National Aquatic Centre in Liliendaal Guyana, and starts with an official opening ceremony on Friday at 6 pm. The meet closes with an award ceremony and Gala on Sunday at 7 pm.