MORE than 330 swimmers, representing a total of 23 clubs from Saint Lucia, Barbados, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Antigua and Barbuda, and St Vincent and the Grenadines are currently on island to compete in the 24th Rodney Heights Aquatic Centre [RHAC] Invitational.
The event kicked off at the Rodney Heights Aquatic Centre on Thursday, April 11.
Among the competitors are a group of local swimmers who participated in the recently concluded CARIFTA Aquatics Championships in Nassau, The Bahamas.
It was an action-packed opening night, on Thursday, which saw a record number of heats in the 1500 metre freestyle, 50 Backstroke, 100 Butterfly, 400 IM and Relays.
The competition is stiff among the age groups.
The meet is being hosted by the Saint Lucia Aquatics Federation (SLAF) in accordance with World Aquatics Rules. The competition venue boasts an 8-lane 25-metre Myrtha Pool with Colorado Electronic Timing.
RHAC was the venue for last year’s Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Swimming Championships, and will also be utilized for the upcoming Goodwill Swimming Championships, this summer.
Notably, all events at the RHAC Invitational (which ends tomorrow) are set to be timed finals, with age groups including 6 and under, 7-8, 9-10, 11-12, 13-14, and 15 and Over.
A sprint challenge will follow the 117 Individual events. This event gives bragging rights to the fastest freestyle swimmer in all the age groups including 18 and Over.
The clubs participating in the event are as follows:
Alpha Sharks Swim Club (ASSC), (Barbados), STORM Antigua Aquatic Club (Antigua), Black Sands Swim Squad (BSSS), BlackSails Swim Club (BSSC) , Blue Marlins (BM), Francois Natation Club (FNC), H2o Lions Swim Academy (HOLSA), HighTide Stingrays Swim Club (HTSR) , LA Lightning Aquatics Swim Club, LONG Longvilliers Club of Lamentin, Marlins Swim Club (MSCA), New Wave Swim (NWSS) , Olympique Club du Carbet (OLYM), Pirates Swim Club (PSCB), (Barbados), RHAC Swim Club, RR Aquatic Swim Club, SAILF Sailfish, Sea Jays Swim Club (SJ’s), Seaside Aquatics (SABAR), (Barbados), Shark Natation Des Abymes (SHKN), (Guadeloupe), SHARK Sharks Swim Club (SHARK), Saint Lucia, Shoelcher Natation 2000 (SN), and Southern Flying Fish (SFF).
The organisers acknowledge the input of the corporate sector, stating that, “an event of this magnitude is not possible without sponsors.”
Sponsors for the event are as follows:
Gold: Saint Lucia Tourism Authority (Caribcation), WeAquatics, Bay Gardens Hotels.
Lane Sponsors: The Oliver Gobat Sports (TOGS) Foundation, Domino’s, LUCELEC, FLOW, KFC.
Other Sponsors: SUBWAY, Bank of Saint Lucia, Massy Stores, Ferrands Food Products, Blue Waters Saint Lucia Ltd., Heineken Saint Lucia, Gros Islet Constituency Council, CIBC First Caribbean Bank, Multi Angle Marketing, CES Ltd., Landmark Events, Leo Valcin Construction, JE Bergasse.
The swim meet continues today (Saturday) and tomorrow with a scheduled start time at 9:00 a.m.
The meet is being streamed live by Multi Angle Marketing on YouTube: rhac invitational.