Swimmers to vie for OECS spot at weekend Invitational

By Neto Baptiste
Over 80 swimmers are expected to compete this weekend in the Antigua and Barbuda Swimming Federation (ABSF) Invitational slated for the Athletic Club in Coolidge.
Technical director, Edith Clashing, said most of the participants will be hoping to meet the federation’s standards ahead of this year’s OECS Swimming Championships in November.
“What we have done for this year is allowed the swimmers to be able to count towards OECS, times they would have achieved in other events but this is the last opportunity for them to either best their times or for those who are borderline to get on in terms of meeting the standards that have been set for them,” he said.
The meet dives off at 6.00 p.m. on Friday and will conclude on Sunday.
Clashing added that there will be no outside competition this year as teams from two invited countries had to decline at the last minute.
“We had expected to have had other clubs join us from other places [countries] but the clubs that would most likely would have come would have been out of St. Maarten and out of Tortola; and those countries would have had very bad hurricane experiences so it’s just going to be us at this point,” he said.
An opening ceremony will be held on Saturday at 9:15 a.m. at the venue before action starts at 9:30 a.m. The action continues Sunday from 9:30 a.m.
The meet carries an entrance fee of $10 and $5. Children under the age of five will enter for free.