First ever Saint Lucia Swim Challenge on the way

[dropcap]F[/dropcap]ollowing Molly Nance’s successful swim from St Lucia to Martinique, the wheels are in motion for the newest sports tourism event in St Lucia. A St Lucia Challenge Swim is scheduled to take place here from July 6-8. This inaugural event consists of a channel swim from St Lucia to Martinique along with an Open Water Swim Meet and clinic.

The St Lucia Channel Swim is supported by the Department of Youth Development and Sports, Department of Tourism and Events Company St Lucia.

Details of the first ever St Lucia Challenge Swim were announced at a recent conference at the Naked Fisherman Restaurant, located on the property of Cap Maison. Special guests included Minister of Tourism, Dominic Fedee; Department of Youth Development and Sports Official, Patrick Mathurin, Nathaniel Waring, Sue Dyson, Lily Bergasse, Weston Moses, Molly Nance and her husband Paul.

Nance who is an accomplished marathon swimmer from Lincoln, Nebraska, crossed the Channel between the two neighboring islands on May 16. At about 4:00 am that morning near the beach known as Smuggles Cove located at Cap Estate, Nance’s standby crew consisting of her husband, Paul, and Bergasse, Waring, Dyson and Moses who is a kayaker prepared for the challenge ahead. It was pitch black when the swimmer plunged into the water with her site set on Martinique. She accomplished that feat in 13 hours and 56 minutes.

For Nance the experience was not only unbelievable but unthinkable. She said: “It is an honor for me to be here. If you had told me five years ago that I would be in St Lucia today having swam from St Lucia to Martinique, I would have wondered how late you’ve been up drinking. I cannot believe I am here. I am so excited for Nathaniel and Sue and the tourism and development industries to be here. This is an incredible experience. I cannot wait for everyone who comes in July to have the same experience I had.”

She went on to say: “Everyone has been so supportive, so friendly and kind. Sue has been such a tremendous help. I could not have done this swim if not for Sue’s help, in getting my wonderful crew put together. It was an amazing experience. I loved every minute of it and I appreciate and admire the goal to get every St Lucian to be able to swim.”

Waring who is American but currently resides on an island in the southern part of Brazil is also an accomplished open water swimmer. He related his experiences and briefly mentioned what constitutes an open water swim.

The St Lucia to Martinique crossing is unlike any he’s seen before. In fact, he told his attentive audience: “Literally after looking at hundreds of different crossings, I really could not find a more iconic, beautiful place to swim like the St Lucia to Martinique channel.”

Minister Fedee gave his seal of approval for the event. He said: “The government of St Lucia fully endorses this event here today. Sports Tourism is a very important niche for us as a tourism dependent economy and is really one of the fastest growing niche markets. It is the first time I have actually attended a swimming tourism event, but we have done so in areas like cricket and football. We have a lot of schools that come over from the UK and we see in a very real and powerful way, how Sports Tourism can contribute significantly towards the development of the tourism industry and of course economically to St Lucia as well. So we look forward to the continued growth of the swimming sector and swimming as a sport.”