National Swimmer set sights on XXI Commonwealth Games

[youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6Rm7YynBrE?autoplay=1″ width=”560″ height=”315″]

DPI, GUYANA, Friday, March 23, 2018

National Swimmer, Andrew Fowler is set to leave Sunday, March 25, to participate in the XXI Commonwealth Games in Gold City, Australia.

Specialising in the 50-metre and 100-metre freestyle, Fowler may just be the fastest swimmer in the country.

Speaking to the Department of Public Information (DPI), the 22-year-old said he “feels fit” and is looking forward to participating in the games. “With my training, there have been ups and downs, which is normal and I hope to do better in my times. I hope to drop off a few seconds, maybe swim the Olympic qualifying time and maybe reach the semi-finals or the finals at the games,” he stated.

The games which will see 72 countries going head to head in various disciplines, features some of the world’s best athletes. Nevertheless, Fowler said that he is optimistic about his chances of exceeding expectations. “You have some big countries like Canada, Great Britain, and Australia, usually they have tough competitors and I hope to do better” he explained.

Fowler’s coach, Sean Baksh, acknowledges that though it may be tough to medal at the Commonwealth Games; he is nonetheless positive that Fowler will significantly improve on his times. This could see him qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

“So far, he has been training really hard and we are doing well in the pool. We have a little bit more work to do before we actually get there. We are getting in there (Australia) early, so we will try to climatise and push a little bit more, I want him to drop about a second and a half more from his time so that is what I am working on in the 50 freestyles” Baksh stated.

He further highlighted that “we are working towards qualifying for the Olympics and that is the goal at this point in time, we are going up against the best in the world. Seventy-two countries will be there, it is going to be really difficult but we will do well in improving on our performances.”

A total of 24 athletes competing in seven disciplines will represent Guyana in Gold City, Australia in this year’s games. They will compete in Badminton, Boxing, Rifle Shooting, Squash, Swimming, Table Tennis, and Track and Field Athletics.

The athletes are Narayan Ramdhani (Badminton); Keevin Allicock and Colin Lewis (Boxing); Ransford Goodluck and Lennox Braithwaite (Rifle Shooting); Mary Fung-A-Fat, Taylor Fernandes, Sunil Seth and Jason Khalil (Squash); Andrew Fowler and Jamila Sanmoogan (Swimming); Priscilla Greaves, Trenace Lowe, Christopher Franklin, Natalie Cummings, Shemar Britton, Nigel Bryan and Joel Alleyne (Table Tennis); Troy Doris, Winston George, Emanuel Archibald, Leslain Baird, Natricia and Natrena Hooper (Athletics).

 

By: Isaiah Braithwaite