Source: www.guardian.co.tt
Brian Wickham, head coach of T&T Carifta Swimming Team believes his athletes can achieve a hat-trick of wins when they compete in Bridgetown, Barbados from April 23 to 26. Two years ago in Aruba, the local swimmers dethroned the Combined French Islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe after a five-year drought and last year, T&T made a successful defence in Kingston, Jamaica with a whopping haul of 94 medals (46 gold, 31 silver, 17 bronze) for 1,011 points to beat Guadeloupe (707) and Bahamas (603) into second and third spot respectively. And, although T&T is carrying a team of 32, four less than the maximum allowed, head coach Wickham is confident that the team has what it takes to lift the title.
“While we do not have the maximum swimmers for the meet, the depth and abilities of the team are quite varied and there are significant areas of strength that we can capitalise on to retain the title. The swimmers and officials are also highly motivated and believe strongly that we would be retaining the title. Guadeloupe was the closest challenger last year but we do expect competition from Bahamas and Martinique.” The team has been training together since March 30 and Wickham said the sessions are progressing well thus far and would redound to the success of the team. He added that although swimmers train primarily with their clubs, the chemistry of the team thus far had been extremely encouraging and positive. Wickham is no stranger to national team duties and while this is his first stint as Carifta head coach, he has served on many teams since 1998 including Goodwill, Carifta and Caribbean Islands Swimming Championship.
At the Goodwill level, he was the first coach to bring home the title for T&T and has previously coached at Abbey Aqua Lads and Lasses Swim Club, and Tidal Wave Aquatics. He has also attain the Level Five Qualification of the America Swim Coaches Association (Age-Group designation). “Although this is my first stint as Carifta head coach, I am very honoured to have two very experienced coaches in Franz Huggins and Ronald Corke working with me. “Technical Director Hazel Haynes who was also head coach of last year’s winning team, also adds to the dynamic team with her years of experience and knowledge.” The coaching staff has collective six decades of experience in the sport. Huggins is the coach of last year’s “Club of the Year” Marlins, and Corke has been coaching for 18 years, the last 11 of which was coach of Torpedoes club. Haynes was appointed National Head Coach last month and has 22 years experience as a coach. She is currently Head Coach of Tidal Wave Aquatics.