Dominica to make swimming debut at Commonwealth Games

Dominica will, for the very first time, have a swimmer represent them at this year’s Birmingham Commonwealth Games.

Dominica will field an 18-member delegation to represent the island at this year’s Commonwealth Games, scheduled to take place from July 28 to August 8.

The team, announced earlier this week by the Dominica Commonwealth Games Association (CGA), is made up of 11 athletes and seven officials and support staff.

Warren Lawrence will create history as the first Dominican swimmer to compete at the Commonwealth Games. He is set to compete in the Male 50m Freestyle, 100m Freestyle, 50m Backstroke, 100m Backstroke and Butterfly.

He will be accompanied by road cyclists Kohath Baron and Kevon Boyd.

Dominica’s contingent is rounded out by eight track and field athletes - Thea Lafond (Female Triple Jump), Mariah Toussaint (Female Long Jump), Kianne Benjamin (Female 100m), Judah Coriette (Male 800m), Dennick Luke (Male 800m), Derick St Jean (Male 400m), Dillon Simon (Male Shot Put) and Tristan James (Male Long Jump).

Commonwealth Games bronze medallist and two-time Olympian, Thea Lafond, will lead the team at the Opening Ceremony on July 28.

Woodrow “Woody” Lawrence is the Chef de Mission and CGA said he brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the role since he is both a manager and former athlete

Dominica’s goal is to improve on the two medals they won at the 2018 Games in Gold Coast, Australia.

Billy Doctrove, President of the Dominica Commonwealth Games Association commented: "We are happy to be able to once again compete in Swimming on the international stage after so many years and would like to take this opportunity to commend the athletes and coaches on the work they have put into ensuring the team is in the best shape to represent Dominica.

“Unfortunately we have had some injuries, scheduling conflicts and academic commitments which has resulted in the team being slightly smaller than projected but we are confident that the final team selected will represent Dominica proudly. Over fifty per cent of the athletes chosen are current national record holders in their respective disciplines which speaks well to the quality of athletes chosen.”

He added: “Over the past six months we have invested approximately EC$80,000.00 dollars into ensuring the prospective and final athletes have been able to receive access to coaching, physiotherapy services, travel to competitions and purchase of equipment and supplements among other things. We are confident this sizable investment made possible, thanks to grant funding from the Commonwealth Games Federation will directly correlate to positive results for the team.

Lawrence commented: “We are calling on all Dominicans in Birmingham and the UK by extension to come out and support Team Dominica. Your support is key to our athletes’ performance and we are looking forward to another excellent Games as the organizers have placed considerable time, planning and finances into ensuring the best for the delegations.”

Guyana will be sending one of its largest delegations to the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England with a total of 32 athletes across six sporting disciplines.

See full list of athletes below:

TRACK AND FIELD:

Men’s – Emmanuel Archibald (Long Jump, 100m, 4X100m), Arinze V Chance (200m, 400m, 4X100m), Akeem Stewart (100m, 200m, 4X100m), Noelex Holder (100m, 200m, 4X100m) and Quamel Prince (800m).

Women’s - Chantoba Bright (Triple Jump), Jasmine Abrams (100m), ALiyah Abrams (200m, 400m), Kenisha Phillips (200m, 400m) and Joanna Archer (800m).

TABLE TENNIS:

Men – Shemar Britton (Singles, Doubles, Team, Mixed Doubles), Christopher 'Corleone' Franklin (Singles, Doubles, Team, Mixed Doubles), Jonathan Van Lange (Singles, Doubles, Team, Mixed Doubles) and Joel Alleyne (Doubles, Team).

Women – Chelsea Edghill (Singles, Doubles, Team, Mixed Doubles), Natalie Cummings (Singles, Doubles, Team, Mixed Doubles), Priscila Greaves (Singles, Doubles, Team) and Thuraia Thomas (Doubles, Team, Mixed Doubles).

SWIMMING:

Men – Paul Mahaica (50m Butterfly, 50m Freestyle, 100m Butterfly, 100m Freestyle) and Sekhel Tzedeq (50m Backstroke, 50m Freestyle, 100m Backstroke, 100m Freestyle).

Women – Patrice Mahaica (50m Backstroke, 50m Freestyle, 100m Freestyle) and Aleka Persaud (50m Butterfly, 50m Freestyle, 100m Butterfly, 100m Freestyle).

SQUASH:

Men – Jason-Ray Khalil (Singles, Doubles, Mixed Doubles) and Shomari Wiltshire (Singles, Doubles, Mixed Doubles).

Women – Ashley Khalil (Singles, Doubles, Mixed Doubles) and, Mary Fung-A-Fat (Singles, Doubles, Mixed Doubles).

BOXING:

Keevin Allicock (Featherweight), Desmond Amsterdam (Middleweight) and Colin Lewis (Welterweight).

BADMINTON:

Men – Narayan Ramdhani (Singles, Mixed Doubles)

Women’s – Priyanna Ramdhani (Single, Mixed Doubles)

CYCLING:

Christopher Griffith (Time Trial, Road Race)

(Loop Caribbean news)