The Turks and Caicos Islands will send a two-member team to the 2022 FINA World Junior Swimming Championships in Lima, Peru from August 30 to September 4.
The championship is open to girls ages 14 to 17 years old and boys ages 15 to 18 years old at the end of the 2022 calendar year.
The Turks and Caicos Islands Team comprised of Sean Walters and Tajhari Williams, who will be marshalled by Ezekiel Hall, Head Swim Coach for Team TCI.
The team departs the Turks and Caicos on Saturday, August 27.
Both aquatic athletes are shooting to make improvements on their times in sub disciplines. Sean will compete in the 100m freestyle, 50m backstroke, 50m breaststroke, 50m butterfly and 50m freestyle. Tajhari is down to compete in the 50m freestyle, 50m backstroke, 100m freestyle and 100m backstroke, 200m freestyle and 200m backstroke.
“I expect to drop time and try and make it to the finals,” said Sean told NewslineTCI, whose current times are: 50m butterfly – 29 seconds, 50m freestyle – 27seconds, 50m breaststrokes – 37seconds, and 100m freestyle is 102 seconds.
Tajhari told NewslineTCI that he expects to improve on his times and not make avoidable mistakes in the past, including a false start.
“I expect to drop time and I expect that I don’t make the same mistakes as I did in other meets,” he said.
In the 50m freestyle, Tajhari’s time is 56 seconds, for the 50m backstroke - 30 seconds, for the 50m butterfly - 29 seconds and for the 100m freestyle his time is 58 seconds.
Coach Hall said training has been going well and he was impressed by what he has seen in the two athletes. He said the team was three-member one up until recently when the lone female had to withdraw.
“The training is going very well. We have a small number of swimmers this year. Originally, we had three swimmers…one female swimmer, but she had to withdraw because of limited access to swimming pool,” Hall revealed. “So, that left us with the two male swimmers - Tajhari Williams and Sean Walters.
He added: “We have been training for the last two weeks at the end of our swim season, geared towards sprint events for the upcoming Junior Worlds.”
Hall believes his charges will perform will.
“Our chances are as good as any. What we say is this, our objective is to swim our best, we are expecting the swimmers to do personal bests…that is what we ask. And once we do personal bests, podium finishes will follow,” he said, pointing out that his has seen marked improvements in their efforts in the pool.
“We have seen remarkable improvements. When you look at swimming, when you look at the physiology, as the kids begin to grow…they get bigger, they get stronger, so naturally their times will drop. But what we have noticed and what we expect is that the drop in time would not be as great as in their younger years. So, the older they get, even though they are improving, the mark improvement would get smaller as they age,” Hall analyzed.
Looking back at the recently concluded Birmingham Commonwealth Games, Hall said: “That was a unique experience. Though it was a first time for swimming (for Turks and Caicos), being involved in the Commonwealth Games, and the first time for us traveling at a multi-sports event.
“We were disappointed with the venue because it was small, so we did not have the (spectator) support. Our supporters did not have access to the swimming events because most of the events were private events – limited seating capacity.
“But in the water, we did very well…all the swimmers. We had Rohan Shearer and Arleigha Hall, who again did a personal best. And so, they represented the TCI to the fullest.”