St George, Grenada, The GRENADA Amateur Swimming Association takes one more step forward towards the realization of a National Aquatic facility for GRENADA.
On Tuesday, GASA engaged a team of key stakeholders including the Grenada Olympic Committee, Ministry Officials and private sector representatives for an initial engagement meeting with a FINA-approved Pool Design and Engineering Company.
GASA recognizes that the construction of such a facility cannot be undertaken on its own, hence the involvement of key stakeholders from the preliminary stages. “For our initial discussions we have engaged a highly reputable company, who are FINA certified and experienced in construction of competitive pool facilities throughout the Caribbean”, says President of GASA, Peron Johnson.
Now that the property adjacent to the National Stadium (Kirani James Athletic Stadium) has officially been vested in the name of the GRENADA Amateur Swimming Association, the executive is moving forward with the support of the Government of Grenada and the Grenada Olympic Committee and other key stakeholders for the realization of this plan.
The establishment of a National Aquatic facility in Grenada will serve athletes beyond those directly involved in competitive swimming. The cross training of athletes to improve their core sport ability is an increasing practice, and the use of swimming for this purpose is one of the key areas. Additionally, through this project our tourism, health and other sectors will stand to benefit from the many linkages to be forged.
The meeting explored with the design engineers the vast opportunities for sports tourism in the area of swimming.
Swim programmes from colder climates are continuously in search of countries in warmer climates to facilitate their year-round training. Already we have many athletes in the sporting discipline of Athletics visiting Grenada annually to make use of our track and field facilities for winter season training. So it is without a doubt this opportunity will be vast for swimming and by extension will contribute to the overall development of our country.
The establishment of an Aquatic Facility to serve the entire country on the National Stadium grounds makes it readily accessible by public transportation for a wider cross section of the population thus making the sport more accessible. Additionally with a FINA certified facility GRENADA will now be positioned to host Regional and International meets which support the Sports Tourism thrust.
Already with less than favourable training conditions we have seen the competitive achievements of our local swimmers increase as more swimmers are qualifying for more regional and international meets such as CARIFTA, CCCAN, and the Youth Olympic Games.
GASA is confident that with a private public partnership approach, that engages a cross section of stakeholders, the realization of a National Aquatic facility is in arms reach.
SOURCE: GASA-PRO
