ASATT boss on Carifta 2025: ‘Make-or-break’ year for swim executive

NEW Aquatics Sports Association of Trinidad and Tobago (ASATT) president Shawn Pouchet said his executive’s handling of the 2025 Carifta Aquatic Championships in April can make or break their term in office.

Pouchet’s slate won seven of the ten contested executive positions at last month’s elections, with the vote for the second vice-president ending in a tie. Pouchet and his team don’t have a lot of time to dwell in the honeymoon phase, though, with TT scheduled to host the 38th edition of the Carifta Aquatic Championships from April 19-23.

TT racked up 56 medals at this year’s championships in the Bahamas, which was good enough for second on the medal count behind the host nation. TT finished third on the point standings behind the Bahamas and Cayman Islands. And while Pouchet highlighted the importance of putting in a strong showing as the host nation, he said the country’s hosting and execution of the games are equally as important.

“There are a couple of things we have to ensure we address administratively from an organisation standpoint. We said we're not going to dwell on it too much,” Pouchet told Newsday, in an interview on December 29.

“We're going to work concurrently and do that...I told the executive the (hosting of) Carifta could make or break us because it's the first thing we have to do and it's very major. If we fail on this, it might tarnish our whole tenure inside there.”

Pouchet said he and his team are working hand-in-hand with the Local Organising Committee (LOC), which is headed by the Sport Company of TT (SporTT), along with a member of the previous ASATT executive to ensure TT hosts the best games possible.

“The ASATT organising committee...will deal more directly with the federations, more specific to the event itself and ensure we put things in place from an event perspective for us. Third vice-president William Carr will be spearheading that and he'll be working along with Ronald Corke, who's the previous second vice-president.”

Govt injects $3.5m towards hosting Carifta

Under the previous administration, Pouchet said ASATT submitted its proposed budget to the government. The new ASATT president said he has received verbal communication from SporTT for the approval of $3.5 million towards the championships.

He said, “It's just that they're (SportTT) waiting for official information with respect to releases and so on.”

He said time is of the essence in that regard.

“The timeline for the release of funds has to be soon because we want to start securing the hotels and thing. We need to make a certain percentage downpayment, and then there are certain fees with the different federations.”

Pouchet said TT are targeting to field a team of 36 swimmers, while he is expecting roughly 26 countries to be flying in for the championships, with countries such as the Bahamas, Jamaica, Barbados and the Cayman Islands anticipated to have the largest contingents.

“Our goal is to have a strong team performance. We don’t want to get anything less than second place.”

He said the Radisson Hotel in Port of Spain will act as the “main competition village,” while teams will also be housed at Cara Suites in Claxton Bay.

The National Aquatic Centre in Balmain, Couva will be the hub of activity for the first few days of the championships, with the scenic Five Islands Water and Amusement Park in Chaguaramas scheduled to host the open water swimming on the last day of the games.

Pouchet said ASATT has assembled a competent team to pull off the games, and he believes the executive’s inclusive approach will bring them positive results both in and out of the water.

He said the opening ceremony for the Carifta Aquatics Championships will be jointly held with the opening of the Carifta Track and Field Championships on April 18 (Good Friday), and he hopes it will be a spectacle for TT’s aquatic and athletic fans to cherish.