THE Human Resource Centre (HRC) in Gros Islet will be a hub of celebration when the Saint Lucia Aquatic Federation (SLAF) stages its annual awards ceremony on Sunday 26th January, 2020 from 4.00 p.m.
The award ceremony is aimed at recognizing the achievements of swimmers, coaches, and the generosity of sponsors and volunteers who worked tirelessly during 2019.
The main highlight of the programme will be the announcement of junior (male and female) Swimmers of the Year and Senior (male and female) Swimmers of the Year.
According to SLAF, in attendance will be Saint Lucia Aquatic Federation President Eddie Hazell and other members of his executive; Keynote Speaker Francis Daniel; nominees/awardees and specially invited guests to include parents, sponsors and members of the media.
Saint Lucia’s National Anthem will start off the afternoon’s gala ceremony followed by prayers, the introduction of this year’s theme “Dig Deep, Dream Bigger”, welcome remarks and the Coach’s Address.
Presentation of Certificates will be given to the various national teams as follows: CARIFTA (Barbados); CCCAN (Barbados); 18th FINA World Junior Swimming Championships (Budapest, Hungary); Pan Am Games (Lima, Peru); FINA World Swimming Championship (Gwangju, South Korea) Goodwill Swimming Championships (Suriname); OECS Swimming Championships (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines).
Awards will also be presented to coaches of the various national teams: CARIFTA; CCCAN; 18th FINA World Swimming Championships; Pan Am Games and OECS Swimming Championships.
Additionally, awards will be given to the Most Improved Swimmer from the various clubs including Lightning Aquatics Swim Club, RHAC Swim Club, RR Aquatics, Seajays Swim Club, Sharks Swim Club, and Southern Flying Fish Swim Club.
Awards are up for grabs in the various swim styles, including Butterfly, Backstroke, Breaststroke and Freestyle. Age group awards will also be presented, as will be awards for the Coach of the Year, Technical Official of the Year, Club Administrator of the Year, Club of the Year. The Pat Charles Award will be presented, as well as Media and Sponsor Certificates.
From the perspective of this reporter, the following individuals or club representatives are more than likely to make several trips to the podium to receive awards: Jayhan Odlum Smith, Mikaili Charlemagne, Naima Hazell, Naekeisha Louis, Fayth Jeffrey, Karic Charles, Ziv Reynolds, Jean Luc-Zephir, Terrel Monplaisir, Jasmine Steide, D’Andre Blanchard, Allandre Cross and Antoine Destang, just to name a few.
Last year junior male and female Swimmers of the Year were D’ Andre Blanchard and Naima Hazell respectively, while senior male and female Swimmers of the Year were JayhanOdlum Smith and Katie Kyle.
This year, it is likely that there will be a change of the guards for the junior female category. Based on her scintillating performance last year, Mikaili Charlemange (Sharks) should win favour with SLAF Technical Committee/Judges. In the junior male category the pendulum is likely to shift towards JayhanOdlum-Smith; Odlum won the senior category last year, but based on policies put in place by the Ministry of Youth Development and Sports in terms of the age limit for the Junior category (20 years), Odlum-Smith will lead the charge in that category, while Jean Luc-Zephir appears to be in the driver’s seat for the senior category. The senior female Swimmer of the Year award is up for grabs.
