Fifteen-year-old swim star Britany Van Lange and Olympian Niall Roberts have been selected by the Guyana Amateur Swimming Association (GASA) to attend the 2011 Pan American Swimming Championships in Guadalajara, Mexico from October 14 to 30.
The duo will be accompanied by national coach Stephanie Fraser, who incidentally is the club coach for Dorado Swim Club, where both swimmers train. Fraser told Guyana Times International Sport yesterday that she is very confident that the two swimmers will be able to perform well at this international event.
Fraser said she is pleased to once again accompany Van Lange to another prestigious competition because the talented teen continues to improve with every competition. Fraser coached Van Lange when she attended the CARIFTA Games in Barbados, the FINA World Short Course Swimming Championships in Dubai last year, and the FINA World Championships in China last month.
Niall Roberts
“Britany has been improving well, and it’s like with every big competition that she goes to she continues to improve,” Fraser said. Fraser is also hoping that Van Lange, who recently shattered three records at the Goodwill Swimming Championships in Trinidad and Tobago, returns in time to represent Guyana at the Inter Guiana Games in Suriname.
Roberts, who is 20 years old, is no stranger to the big stage, having competed at the last Olympic Games in Beijing as well as three FINA World Championships.
Fraser also expects Roberts, the country’s fastest swimmer in the sprint events, to perform well, but hopes that he is able to adjust to the high altitude in Guadalajara.
In her experience as a national coach, Fraser said, Guyanese swimmers have in the past had difficulty breathing at countries with high altitudes, such as Mexico, where the air is thinner, with fewer molecules of oxygen available.
Fraser said that Roberts suffers from asthma and has struggled at high altitudes in the past.
Guadalajara’s altitude is 5,200 feet or 1,590 metres above sea level, which is considered very high altitude.
Since Roberts has not had any asthma attack in competition recently, Fraser hopes that he will be able to compete without any such interruptions in Mexico next month. Roberts will be equipped with the experience from competing at international events in countries such as Australia, France and China (Beijing and Shanghai).
Apart from swimming, Guyana will be participating in rugby sevens, squash, athletics and taekwondo.
Nicolette Fernandes was given a wildcard invitation to compete in the squash competition, while track stars Winston George, Cleveland Forde and three-time Olympian Aliann Pompey have qualified for the event.
Since no swimmer qualified for the event, Guyana had to select the athletes with the most FINA points, according to Fraser. Fraser also mentioned that Van Lange edged Trinidad and Tobago- based swimmer, six-time CARIFTA gold medallist Jessica Stephenson, based on her performances at FINA-sanctioned events.
Comments are closed.