By Neto Baptiste
National swimmer Ethan Stubbs-Green, fresh off a successful showing in the 2022 Carifta Swimming Championships held in Barbados, is turning his attention to the Central American and Caribbean Amateur Swimming Confederation (CCCAN) Championships slated for July 10-18 in Barbados.
Speaking recently on the Good Morning Jojo sports show, Stubbs-Green said his aim is to try and replicate his success at the much bigger meet, but thanked his coach and parents for the time and effort they continue to invest in makings sure he is well-equipped for the task at hand.
“Working day in and day out to get the job done and put in the work, I think that’s what I have to do, just go all out. I would like to thank my coach, Coach Wayne, who has spent so many frustrating hours with me, taking care of me and making sure I put in the work, and my parents, obviously,” he said.
A third form student of the St Anthony’s Secondary School, Stubbs-Green won a total of four medals at the 2022 championships.
He won silver in the boys’ 400 freestyle, gold in the 200 meters butterfly, gold in the 100 butterfly and bronze in the 200 freestyle.
The athlete said it was a dream come true but believes it’s just his hard work and dedication paying dividends.
“I’ve been training for this almost, possibly, for five years. I have a little tiny pool at my house and when we went into quarantine I swam in there. A sport like swimming where you are swimming so hard but you have good technique, so it makes it look easy and that’s what your goal is,” he said.
Stubbs-Green said the Carifta Games provided an opportunity to pit himself against some of the best within the Caribbean, but also offered an opportunity to gain much needed experience on a much larger platform.
“Before the race, I could not be more scared but after the race I am met with a feeling of ‘is this even real and did I actually do this’, because two years ago I was going to OECS and I was not winning anything but this was a bigger event and I won something, so I surprised myself,” he said.
There was a bronze medal as well for girls’ 13-14 competitor Ellie Shaw who clocked 1:19.22 to finish third in the 100 meter breaststroke.