WesPow Park provides home for swimming in western Jamaica

Amid calls for a 50-metre swimming pool in Montego Bay getting even louder recently, the wish of the second city remains a promise.

However, WesPow Park has emerged as the home for swimming in Montego Bay for over the past decade.

WesPow Par is home of the SailFish Swim Academy, that continues to produce national representatives, recently hosted the fourth edition of the annual Western Invitational Swim Event. Sandra Christie, operations manager and director of administration at WesPow Park, said the team is happy to continue to impact sports in Jamaica.

She believes that people and the sporting fraternity should appreciate when individual business persons like Orville Powell (president of football club Montego Bay United (MBU) are actively involved.

"The cry from western Jamaica is that they want a 50-metre pool, but nobody is able to fund it nor the Government. We would have heard Lloyd B Smith reference to how many years this has been on the discussion table. It is good that MBU, through Mr Powell, has managed to do its own development to provide access to SailFish Swim Academy and other swimmers that we have had in the past," Christie said.

EMPOWER A NATION

She said that the facility continues to facilitate youth in sports as part of the mantra for MBU is to build and empower a nation.

"As much as our facility was centred around football, it is also there to facilitate other sporting disciplines, and swimming is one. One person has at least stepped forward to give a facility like we have for football to create accommodation to swimming, even if it's a 25-metre pool," he added.

Christie said that she was pleased by the recent swim meet that saw a good turnout, which exposes their facilities even more.

"It was probably one of the best presentations of the swim meet over the four years with heavy attendants. They had a lot of support from Milo in particular and I think because the kids are preparing for the Goodwill Games, it was a good opportunity for them to test their abilities," Christie said.

- K.A.