SVGSF – triple hat-trick at National Sports Awards

The St Vincent and the Grenadines Swimming Federation completed a triple hat-trick of titles when the 2016 National Lotteries Authority National Sports Awards were held last Saturday night at the auditorium of the SVG Community College.

In making a treble of three titles, the national swim body copped the Coach of the Year award, the Association of the Year, as well as the Junior Sportswoman of the Year accolade for 2013, 2014 and added the 2016 edition to the list, announced last Saturday.

The repeats saw Kyle Dougan again receiving the judges’ nod for the Coach of the Year, over Roxell John and Michael Ollivierre of the SVG Cricket Association Inc and Team Athletics SVG, respectively.

Dougan did not only guide Black Sands Swim Squad to dominance in local meets, but his charges were equally good at the subregional and regional levels.

The input of Dougan pushed St Vincent and the Grenadines to its best performance at the OECS Swim Championships, which took place last November at the Shrewsbury Aquatic Centre.

Meanwhile, administratively, the SVG Swimming Federation beat the other two finalists – the SVG Cricket Association and Team Athletics SVG, in its three-peat of the Top Sports Association for 2016.

The Federation hosted for the first time the 26th edition of the OECS Swim Championships, and received a high grade for its execution.

Prior to the hosting of the championships, the Federation ensured that all the requirements were met, including the construction of a warm-up/warm-down pool, which is also used for the “learn to swim” programme and hosted regular training for the stewards and all officials of the championships.

During 2016, the Federation hosted several championships, such as the Scotia Bank Invitational, the Flow Invitational, Sprint Challenge, open water events, as well as time trials for selection of national teams.

The Federation also made sure that SVG was represented at other regional and international championships, namely the Carifta Championships, the Caribbean Islands Swim Championships, FINA Championships, and the Olympic Games.

The latter’s participation saw SVG for the first time winning a heat, through swimmer Nikolas Sylvester in the 50m men’s freestyle.

And, for her successes at local, subregional, regional and good returns at international level, Shne Joachim was once again Junior Sportswoman of the Year.