Swim officials cop overseas experience

Thursday, June 22, 2006

CIASA's first group of Certified Swim Officials receive
their cards. In the front row, from left to right, are
Amanda Roberts, Kelly Rooney, and Toni Rombough.
In the back row are Sara Mackay, Amy Cofer, CIASA
President Peter Mackay, Melinda Robertson, and Adam
Roberts. Christine Cleaver, Catherine Philip, and
Dunston Groome could not be present for the taking of
the picture.

Cayman Swimming benefited from one of the Caribbean's foremost swim officials, who recently spent some time in Cayman sharing his knowledge and teaching swim officiating classes.

Errol Clarke comes from Barbados, and made the trip courtesy of a FINA grant and CIASA. FINA is the world-wide governing body of swimming and CIASA is the national swim association of the Cayman Islands.

Clarke is a member of the ASUA (Amateur Swim Union of the Americas) Technical Committee, and recently returned from officiating at the World Championships in Shanghai. During his time here, Clarke not only taught officiating, but also acted as a VIP observer for the Flowers Sea Swim, not only to enjoy the event, but also to give constructive criticism to improve what has become one of Cayman's prime sporting events.

The officiating classes culminated in aspirant swim officials being given the opportunity to put their new-found knowledge to good use at the Progressive Distributors Swim Meet held from Thursday 15 June to Sunday 18 June, where they gained some practical on-deck experience under the watchful eye of Clarke.

A number of newly certified Cayman Islands swim officials were also presented with their credentials by CIASA President Peter Mackay recently.

Expressing gratitude to Stingray Swim Club for years of funding and hosting training clinics, Mackay said, "Knowledgeable officials are an integral part of this great sport. We appreciate all the people who help by working the meets so kids can compete in local, yet sanctioned, meets and especially the efforts to upgrade and complement the swim programme by attending classes. It really helps us become a part of the international swim community. We encourage all swim supporters to take advantage of these opportunities."

FINA rules are somewhat different from USA Swimming rules, with swimmers from the Cayman Islands attending meets run under both sets of rules.

In a further push to improve the quality of local coaching, two coaches from the government swim programme, Alex Webb and Jeanine Rix, attended a four-day coaching clinic in Jamaica, courtesy of CIASA and Cayman Airways.

With the amount of effort going into development of officials and coaches, the Cayman Islands should keep on producing top-class swimmers who can compete with the best in the world.

Back...