Carter motivates TT Goodwill swim team

TT will be seeking a fifth consecutive victory at the annual Goodwill Swim Meet which splashes off Friday in Barbados. The team is being managed by Nefertiti Acosta-Yates with the head coach being Mark Alexis.

Multiple CAC gold medallist Dylan Carter, who also represented TT at Goodwill in 2008, was present at the last team session on Saturday at the National Aquatic Centre in Couva, and gave words of advice to the young athletes. The Goodwill Swim Meet is a developmental meet where swimmers who have represented TT at CARIFTA, CCCAN and higher level meets are excluded.

Carter, who would have been eligible for CARIFTA in 2008, did not qualify for CARIFTA.

Following the Goodwill experience in 2008, in Carter’s second year in the 11-12 age group in 2009, he swam to eight Carifta records, two national records, eight gold and one silver medal at his first CARIFTA in Aruba.

On Saturday, Carter relayed to the athletes his journey to success. He expressed his disappointment as he was dropped from the national water polo team in 2008. However, immediately after that disappointment, he decided to try swim training in afternoons.

His coach at the time Franz Huggins encouraged him to try out for the Goodwill team and the national Goodwill trials was his first competitive swim meet. Eight years after, he was in a World Senior Championships final.

He encouraged the athletes to use disappointments to their advantage as it can open doors for them, and acknowledged the Goodwill Swim Meet as one of the stepping stones to his success.

Acosta-Yates and Alexis are confident of TT’s chances. Acosta-Yates, who is serving in her second consecutive stint as team manager, believes “the pressure is on for us to deliver our fifth consecutive victory. However we are confident that we have a combination of experience and talent, and an overall enthusiasm that will make us a force to be reckoned with.”

Goodwill squad:

8 & Under Girls

Alyssa Reid

Netania Edwards

Asia-Marie Pouchet

Tamia Archibald

8 & Under Boys

Rylan Thomas

Adam Scoon

Alejandro Agard

Zaheed Walter

9-10 Girls

Keryn Burke

Shauna Nelson

Madara Edwards

Atiyah Walter

9-10 Boys

Giovanni Rivas

Zachary Anthony

Liam Carrington

Jacob Cox

11-2 Girls

Kiara Goodridge

Amari Ash

Sharana Balkaran

Daniella Blackman

11-12 Boys

Dillon Jaglal

Nathan Pascall

Keron Kotiah

Justin Hassranah

13-14 Girls

Isabella Edwards

Patricia-Lee Ravello

Naomi Walters

Jaedra Douglas

13-14 Boys

Aaron Stuart

Gardel Elcock

Nicholas Francois

Prince Moreau

15-17 Girls

Kami Morean

Courtney Lawrence

Bianca Prevatt

Analee Maharaj

15-17 Boys

Jordon McMillan

Brandon Coombs

Dante Williams

Jamaal Pascall