The 2021 Carifta Swimming Championships that had been set to get underway from March 26 to April 7 has been postponed due to the recent spikes in the number of Covid-19 cases in Barbados.
Barbados has recorded more than 350 active cases and 11 deaths as a wave of new infections prompted Prime Minister Mia Mottley to announce new measures including an 11-hour daily curfew and a two-week lockdown of the island.
It was with this in mind that President of the Barbados Amateur Swimming Association Cheryl Lady Forde said her executive decided to postpone the championships.
“It is with the greatest regret that I must inform you that Carifta 2021, will not take place in Barbados as scheduled for March 26th -April 7th. An Executive decision was taken this evening by the BASA to postpone Carifta 2021 after a review of the current Covid-19 situation in Barbados and by extension, in the region,” she said in correspondence Wednesday to member associations.
“It was agreed that a new date would be decided after the “national pause”- lockdown that is expected to end on February 17th, and after we have had an opportunity to meet with the Covid-19 Monitoring Unit.
“In the absence of a vaccine, with the new variant present in Barbados, community spread locally, the general spiking of Covid-19 cases in neighbouring countries and changing travel protocols locally and in a number of our neighbouring countries, it was agreed that it would be prudent to postpone this regional competition at this time.”
A number of countries across the region have been struggling to get their swimming programmes back on track. In Jamaica, the ASAJ, is awaiting government approval to get swimming meets back as many local swimmers need to achieve qualifying standards for the Carifta Games. (www.sportsmax.tv)