Ornella Walker wants to create swimming history for Tobago

NATIONAL SWIMMER Ornella Walker, 21, wants to be the first Tobagonian swimmer to qualify for an Olympic Games.

However, the journey to Paris 2024 is a choppy and difficult one for the Castara resident.

Walker's physical fitness has been negatively affected by the pandemic, but she is determined to regain her pre-covid19 form.

Walker said getting back into the pool after months of lockdown was like starting afresh.

The Tobago YMCA Aqua Warriors Swim Club member said the pandemic affected all athletes, but was particularly hard on swimmers.

She said unlike other sports where the athletes are able to train outdoors individually, she had no alternative when the YMCA pool in Black Rock was shut down last year.

Beaches and public pools were closed during lockdown last year and have been closed since April 2021 to combat the spread of covid19. However, athletes were granted exemptions to train for international competition.

Walker said the months of inactivity and uncertainty affected her motivation as she was not sure which swim meets regionally or nationally would be held.

Walker, who last swam competitively in 2019, participated in last month's invitational national time trials for the forthcoming Junior Pan Am Games scheduled for Cali, Colombia in November. At the National Aquatic Centre, Couva, Walker swam in the 100 metres and 200m backstroke events but was not at her best. She acknowledged her performances were below par but noted she only had one month of preparation.

Walker said the curfew hours during the state of emergency, the closure of gyms and the demands of her current job severely affected her training programme,

She said her training sessions at the YMCA pool usually run for two hours, 5 am to 7 am, four days a week, but since the curfew ends at 5 am daily, she arrives at the facility around 5.30 am but has to leave before 7am to reach work on time at the Mt Irvine Bay Hotel and Golf Club.

Walker is hopeful that her performance (two minutes, 26.28 seconds in the 200m backstroke) at the National Swimming Championships in December 2019 would be considered to earn her the B standard qualification to the Junior Pan Am Games.

Representing TT for the past nine years, Walker has earned medals at Carifta, Central American and Caribbean Swimming Federation (CCCAN) and the Caribbean Islands Swimming Championships (CISC) levels in various age groups.

She listed her gold medal performance in the 50m backstroke at the CISC championships in Bahamas 2016 as her marque moment in the sport.

Asked about her favourite athlete, Walker said she looks up to Jamaican sprint legend Usain Bolt.

Walker said she is motivated by his athletic journey to greatness and loves his "humble" personality.

In fact, Walker said track and field was her first sporting discipline, where she competed in the high jump and javelin events, as a member of Zenith Athletic Club and then Tobago Falcons Athletic Club. At age 12, Walker said she began experiencing pain in her legs while training, which her doctor diagnosed as due to a growth spurt. He recommended that she try swimming which may not be as physically demanding on her lower body.

Walker, who is six feet tall, took her doctor's advice and joined the YMCA swim club. She said the coaches told her that she had natural talent, so she continued in the sport and is now dreaming of creating history for Tobago.