Dear Editor,
I just happened to catch a programme the other night in which a sports panel was discussing the current state and future prospects of Guyana’s capacity to produce highly competitive swimmers, after having reviewed the last team effort overseas.
During the discussion there was a reluctant admission of the limited population of potential competitors, apparently given the scarcity of practice facilities. At this point it dawned on me that along the coast on sugar estates there were swimming pools dying to be swum.
In fact, there was a time when GuySuCo’s policy was to allow scheduled school visits to estate swimming pools. Obviously, the policy may have become as defunct as one suspects the pools now are.
But under the new dispensation it would appear to be an opportune time for the sports department of the Ministry of Education to pour fresh ideas into rehabilitating these pools in order to attract interested groups, amongst whom might be discovered future competitors and worthy representatives.
Hoping that this letter gets read with a view towards making swimming more national a sport than it is now.
Yours faithfully,
E B John
