Headlines:
| Swimming Championships opening ceremony |
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| Thursday, 17 July 2008 | |
Competitors from 13
overseas countries have gathered together for the opening ceremony of the 17th
Caribbean Islands Swimming Championships which is now going on at the national
stadium pool.After the ceremony, at 7:30 Thursday evening, Jamaica's 18 and under team will play against their Bajan counterparts in the opening game of the waterpolo competition. Afterwards Puerto Rico square off with Trinidad and Tobago in the 16-17 age group category. The battle between Jamaica's Alia Atkinson and Trinidad and Tobago's Shantel McLean will take centre-stage when the swimming competition gets underway on Friday. Both swimmers, who are good friends and have qualified for this summer's Beijing Olympics will be squaring off in the 100 metre freestyle as well as the 50 metre butterfly of which 19-year-old Atkinson is the national record holder. McLean, who is five years older than Atkinson, is also looking ahead to the races as preparation for the Olympics. Jamaica's technical director Jackie Walter says Jamaica's contingent is strong on paper heading into Friday's action, which will see a couple other interesting match-ups. Jamaica's other Olympians Jevon Atkinson and Natasha Moodie will arrive over the weekend, completing the home team's formidable squad. |