After capturing Guyana’s first ever gold medal at the Junior Carifta Swimming Champio-nships this year Jessica Stephenson has her sights set on competing at the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games.
Stephenson, who resides in Trinidad and Tobago, returned to Guyana last weekend for the Goodwill Championships. Since the Goodwill meet is a developmental one, Stephenson, now 13, was not allowed to participate since she medalled at Carifta this year.
“Although I knew that I wouldn’t be able to participate, I just wanted to come home and give my team support and encouragement as well as help out in any way that I can,” she told Stabroek Sport during the meet last week-end.
Stephenson recounted how exciting and motivating it was for her to have captured multiple medals in the 2007 Goodwill Championships.
According to Stephenson, she captured bronze medals in the 400m freestyle, 50m freestyle, 200m individual medley and silver in the 100m breaststroke.
Before returning home for Goodwill, Stephenson participated at the Pine Crest Swim Camp in Florida.
Devina Stephenson, Jessica’s mother, said that she enrolled her daughter in the camp which was held from July 30 – August 30 because it has a reputation for attracting some of the top junior swimmers in the U.S.
Jessica’s mother also explained that her daughter emerged as one of the front runners of the camp as her personal records are exceptional even by U.S. standards.
“Jessica’s time in the 200m breaststroke (2:55.59s) is currently an AAAA time, (the highest U.S junior swimming motivational standard) and her time in the 100 breaststroke is an AAA (slightly lower) but is just .001s of the AAAA standard.
London bound
Stephenson is a member of Marlins Swim Club in Trinidad and Tobago where she is coached by Franz Huggins.
According to her mother, “Jessi is one of the best swimmers there and her coach says that she is on track for the next Olympics.”
Jessica said that she communicates with Niall Roberts, who represented Guyana in the 50m freestyle in Beijing and thinks that it is a tremendous accomplishment.
By the next Olympics, Jessica will be Niall’s age, but instead of hoping for a wildcard spot, she said that she wants to achieve the qualifying standard.
In order to accomplish that feat, she has to chop off just over 30 seconds of her current personal record, a task which Jessica, her parents and her coach feel is very possible.
“At this rate Jessi is reducing her time by ten seconds each year and we estimate that she should get the Olympic qualifying time right on schedule,” Devina Stephenson said.
Jessica’s mom also said that she is balancing her daughter’s workload to ensure that she does not overexert herself while lending her support and also ensuring that she keeps focused on her Olympic dream.
