Niall Roberts is going to the Olympics
-along with Aliann Pompey and Marian Burnett
Chef de Mission Noel Adonis announced yesterday that Guyana Amateur Swimming Association’s (GASA) most outstanding junior swimmer Niall Roberts will be heading to the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, along with overseas-based track athletes Aliann Pompey and Marian Burnett.
Adonis confirmed yesterday after being engaged in a teleconference on Thursday with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that of the athletes submitted by the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA), those three have been approved to participate.
Adonis said that 400m runner Pompey and 800m runner Burnett were the only athletes who had qualified, while Roberts was fortunate enough to gain selection by the International Swimming Federation (FINA)on the basis of his performance at the 2007 World Swimming Championships in Melbourne, Australia.
Secretary of the GASA Dr Karen Pilgrim explained Roberts’s selection saying, “FINA, the international body in charge of selection of swimmers for the Olympics has always sets qualifying standards for athletes to make.
