PUERTO RICO – Jamaica had a four person delegation at the recently concluded PAN AM Sports Training Camp held in Puerto Rico from Wednesday May 29 to June 12.
The participants at this year’s camp included World Championship representatives Michael Gunning and Sidrell Williams, Central American and Caribbean Games representative Emily MacDonald and top local coach Lynval Lowe.
The Camp was sponsored by PAN AM Sports, the American Swimming Union UANA, the Puerto Rican Olympic Committee and the Puerto Rican Swimming Federation.
Camp coordinator Gianluca Alberani spoke to the objectives “The goal of the camp last year was to achieve the marks for the Pan American Games in Lima. This year, the level is more advanced, since several athletes who have the marks and are going to participate in the Games are invited. It is more to help them with the motivation and specific training to reach the finals or even the Olympic qualification to Tokyo 2020”.
The camp saw more than 20 nations participating to include swimmers and coaches at Olympic Sports Complex in Salinas, Puerto Rico. The event saw the re-opening of the Albergue Olímpico pool, one of several sports facilities that suffered severe damage when Hurricane Maria hit the island.
“The swimmers completed over 38 hours of swimming which was over 100 000 metres completed and also included nine hours of intense land training, biometric assessment and stretching. All of our athletes responded very well and had adequate rest and recovery.
Classroom clinics were also a requirement which was very interactive and had swimmers focusing on goal setting and good nutrition. The coaches were all required to participate on deck and observe head Coach Gonzalez. The coaches also had sessions focused on athlete development, how to improve athletes physical and mental well being, training objectives, how to optimize swimmers fitness, among other topics. We were given opportunities to take in the culture of Puerto Rico .
Overall the camp it was great camp we learnt so much from the coaches and the swimmers. I will take what I have learnt and impart to the other coaches at home”.
