28th June 2021
St Lucian Swimmers to compete in 2021 Olympic games in Tokyo
By St. Lucia Aquatics Federation
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The Olympic Games originally scheduled for 2020, now being held in 2021, is well set to take off in Tokyo. Consequently, the games will be convened in July/August of this year, 2021.
The selection of athletes for this event is usually done by the Saint Lucia Olympic Committee (SLOC) based on information provided by the federation. This time round, FINA made two universality placements available to all National Federation who had no athletes making an A or B qualifying time. The conditions stipulated by FINA were as follows:
- Athletes with highest FINA points during the qualifying period 2019-2021.
- One male and one female athlete.
Based on Fina Points Four (4) swimmers namely Jean-Luc Zephir, Jayhan Odlum -Smith, Mikaili Charlemagne and Naima Hazell were identified as hopefuls for qualification.
Jayhan Odlum Smith currently on his second FINA Scholarship (2019/2020 and 2020/2021) and Jean-Luc Zephir awarded an Olympic Solidarity Scholarship by the St. Lucia Olympic Committee for the period 2019/2020 had been actively training and participating in Olympic qualifying events in the United States of America and Europe.
The two female athletes were unable to participate in any Olympic qualifying events. As a result, their FINA points, as sent by FINA based on FINA’s records, were used to determine who would be selected for the universality placement.
After much deliberation, the final selection was made! Congratulations to Mikaili Charlemagne, who is the national record holder in the 50-meter Freestyle. She was selected and is scheduled to swim this event in Tokyo. Mikaili Charlemagne has 653 FINA points.
The final selection for the male representative was not made without a challenge of being fair to both swimmers, as they both competed in many qualifying events. At the end of submission dates Jean-Luc Zephir had 749 Fina Points over Jayhan Odlum-Smith with 741.
Congratulations to Jean-Luc Zephir and Mikaili Charlemagne who will be representing the Federation and by extension St. Lucia.
Coach Brian Charles is expected to accompany the swimmers on this exciting sporting journey.
The Executive of SLAF wish all the swimmers the best as we continue to provide opportunities for the advancement of swimming and aquatic sports.
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