Beaches reopening encouraging, says triathlon president Daniel

PRESIDENT of the Trinidad and Tobago Triathlon Federation Derek Daniel has welcomed the news that beaches in TT will reopen from Monday as triathletes often train there.

On Saturday at a covid19 media briefing the Prime Minister announced that people will be allowed to use beaches from Monday from 5 am-noon daily.

Dr Rowley said, “We did say a while back that we will consider the therapeutic nature of beach visits and I want to keep that promise to you…we will allow access to water front from 5 am and we will do it from 5 am -12 o’clock (noon).

“It will be done without the presence of alcohol on any public beach…there is to be no loud music and there is to be no partying.”

Rowley said when you are not in the water masks must be worn.

He added it is for peace, quiet and therapy. Rivers and ponds will remain closed.

Since the covid19 pandemic started to affect TT in March 2020, beaches have only been open periodically.

Triathletes and open-water swimmers train regularly at Macqueripe Bay, Las Cuevas Bay, Maracas Bay and Tyrico Bay in preparation for meets.

“It is encouraging news for us in terms of us being able to access the beaches and do open water swimming which is good,” Daniel said.

He is counting down the days to when sports will be given the green light to resume.

“However, we are still limited in that we are unable to do any event of any nature at this point. We look forward to being able to resume sporting activity again in the country, (but) obviously under safe conditions.”

Daniel is happy for the athletes, but said with no events planned in the near future, it can lead to a lack of motivation.

“Yes we are (excited). Fortunately we have been able to get access to pools so some of the athletes have been out training…but in the absence of no competition or events coming up locally, it’s still pretty much training in isolation (so) the motivation is not there, particularly for the younger athletes.”

The Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts welcomes the reopening of beaches, in particular beach facilities under its direct purview at Maracas, Las Cuevas, Vessigny and Manzanilla.

In a media release on Saturday, Minister of Tourism, Culture and the Arts Randall Mitchell urged all beachgoers to “comply with the recommended guidelines and safety measures in place at beaches to maintain the health and safety of all users.”

His ministry will be "working closely with the TT Police Service to ensure adherence to the opening and closing times of the facilities and monitoring of restricted activity."

Mitchell thanked citizens for their patience over the past months and also reminded everyone to continue observing the three Ws ­– wash your hands, wear your mask and watch your distance.