CARIFTA aquatics postponed

The Barbados Aquatics Sports Association (BASA) has decided that it won’t be able to stage the 2021 CARIFTA Aquatics Championships as scheduled at the Barbados Aquatics Center, in Wildey, Christ Church, Barbados, this Easter. The event has been postponed.

The announcement, which came as no surprise, was made by BASA President Lady Cheryl Forde late Wednesday evening. There is no new date as yet, but according to reports, artistic swimming, swimming and open water swimming are still on the agenda for this year’s meet. Missing from this year’s event is the water polo competition due to it being a contact sport, and at the moment, contact sports are prohibited in Barbados due to the presence of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

This is the second CARIFTA sporting event to be postponed in less than a week. The 2021 CARIFTA Track and Field Championships, set for Hamilton, Bermuda, were postponed from April 3-5 to July 2-4.

“An executive decision was taken by BASA to postpone CARIFTA 2021 after a review of the current COVID-19 situation in Barbados and by extension, in the region. It was agreed that a new date would be decided after the ‘national pause’ – lockdown that is expected to end on February 17, and after we have had an opportunity to meet with the COVID-19 Monitoring Unit,” said Lady Forde in a statement. “In the absence of a vaccine, with the new variant present in Barbados, community spread locally, the general spiking of COVID-19 cases in neighboring countries and changing travel protocols locally and in a number of our neighboring countries, it was agreed that it would be prudent to postpone this regional competition at this time.”

Barbados has seen a spike in positive COVID-19 cases since the Christmas holidays, particularly with the arrival of the new variant of COVID-19 in that nation. As a result, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley announced earlier this week the establishment of a 15-day lockdown period from February 3-17. The country will go into a period of advanced restrictions. There were 34 new cases of the coronavirus reported in Barbados yesterday.

Bahamas Aquatics Federation (BAF) President Algernon Cargill said it is a disappointment that the meet was postponed. He said that Bahamas Aquatics was aware that Barbados was going through a second wave and their numbers had skyrocketed.

“We are very disappointed,” Cargill said. “Our athletes, despite all of the challenges we faced in The Bahamas, they have been training very hard. Our trials are set and we would likely have to postpone those trials when we know more about when CARIFTA will be held so that we can have the best possible national team for CARIFTA.”

Cargill said he does not expect the event to occur before June as it is a junior meet and athletes have exams as a priority.

“The likelihood of swimming and open water being held prior to June seems unlikely for many reasons. May which is being discussed, is when athletes are in final examinations, BGCSE (Bahamas General Certificate of Secondary Education) and external exams. Education is the top priority and we would never ask our athletes to miss final examinations or external examinations for CARIFTA. Also, there is no telling as to when it will be safe to have an international competition like CARIFTA. The dilemma is when will Barbados host CARIFTA?” Cargill stated. He added that July and August are also being looked into but a decision is not close to being made.

With the postponement of the event, this means that athletes in The Bahamas will see the qualifying period being extended to a time close to when CARIFTA will be held. By pushing the qualifying period back, it forces athletes to perform at a high standard instead of qualifying early and becoming relaxed. Cargill said a technical committee will meet and review a suitable date. The last day to qualify was originally March 8.

The Bahamas is still looking forward to winning a fourth straight CARIFTA swimming title in the pool, and sixth in the past seven championships. Guadeloupe spoiled a three-peat back in 2016 in Fort-de-France, Martinique.

In 2019, the year the last meet was held, Bahamian swimmers won 73 medals, inclusive of 35 gold, 18 silver and 20 bronze. The closest country to them was Jamaica with 59 total medals, including 22 gold. Trinidad and Tobago finished third in the medal standings with 43 total medals – 17 of which were gold.

In the point standings, The Bahamas won with 889.50 points. Jamaica was second with 748 points and Trinidad and Tobago finished third with 676 points.

In CARIFTA water polo that year, The Bahamas’ under-16 boys team won the gold medal, the under-14 mixed team won the silver medal and the under-19 boys team brought back a bronze medal.

According to Cargill, discussions are also being held for northern Caribbean nations – The Bahamas, the Turks and Caicos Islands, Jamaica, the Cayman Islands and Bermuda –ww to host a meet this year here in The Bahamas, as an avenue to give athletes some international experience. Cargill said the Ministry of Health has to approve such a meet before it is held. It will not be CARIFTA but more of a regional exposure for swimmers, Cargill noted.

It could also be a warm-up meet for the CARIFTA Aquatics Championships, whenever they are held.

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