Organisers and swimmers are currently preparing for the second annual St Lucia Channel Swim Event which will take place July 4-9 and, with that in mind, held a recent press launch at the Saint Lucia Tourism Authority office in Rodney Bay. Officials in attendance included Director of Youth Development and Sports, Patrick Mathurin; Main Event Organiser, Sue Dyson; Meet Director, Lily Bergasse; and Saint Lucia Tourism Authority official, Christopher Gustave.
In 2018 Saint Lucia hosted the Inaugural St Lucia Channel Swim Event consisting of a 21m/33km swim from Saint Lucia to Martinique as well as Open Water Swim Clinics and races in the 1K, 3K and 5K distances. The event was orchestrated to bring open water swimming to the forefront in Saint Lucia. The first solo swimmer attempted and completed a swim from Saint Lucia to Martinique in May 2018.
This year the event will again be facilitated by Philip Rush, open water swimming expert and still the current world record holder for the fastest two- and three-way swim of the English Channel which he completed in 1987 in a time of 28 hours and 21 minutes (he finished the two-way in 16 hours and 10 minutes).
Speaking at the press conference, Sue Dyson said, “Our goal is to bring open water swimming to Saint Lucia as well as to bring another avenue for channel swimming, marathon swimming and long distance swimming to our region and the Caribbean.” During his brief remarks, Mathurin said, “I would just like to say on behalf of Youth and Sports and, of course, the Government of Saint Lucia, that again we would like to support the initiative. When the idea came up last year about channel swimming, we were not quite certain as to how this thing would develop but, from what we have seen, it is a market where we could engage the public and, of course, the international fraternity in terms of how we market and produce another sporting event for Saint Lucia.”
He went on to say: “Also, from the ministry’s standpoint, we may have our own selfish reasons for getting involved because, 1., it is an international sporting event but, more specific for us is, the whole idea of swimming is something we support greatly. We want our Saint Lucian public to be aware of the sea. Don’t be afraid of it.”
Mathurin pointed out what we already know: “It’s amazing the number of persons in Saint Lucia who live on-island who cannot swim. So we want to encourage persons; and so the ministry has fully endorsed the activity; is on board from last year. We are hoping that this thing grows; have a bigger event from year to year; we get more swimmers and our aim, of course, is to get more persons locally involved in swimming.”
Taking place July 4-9, this second annual event will include Open Water Clinics for the public on July 5 as well as the races on July 6 with 1K, 3K and 5K events. One exciting addition to this portion of the overall event will be a mixed relay at the end of the races. Meet Director, Lily Bergasse, stressed this allows participation by individuals who may not be confident or able to complete 1,000 metres.
Saint Lucia Tourism Authority representative, Christopher Gustave, conveyed that he is happy that this partnership is developing another sports tourism event which draws Saint Lucia to the international market. “Sports tourism is great for the economy for one simple reason,” said Gustave. “It generates economic impact through direct spending in our communities. Sports tourism is a rapidly growing niche in the tourism industry. This kind of tourism brings in thousands of visitors, like the recently concluded England tour of the West Indies and the Rodney Bay Aquatic Centre Invitational Swim Meet where we welcomed swimmers from Barbados, Martinique, St Vincent and Trinidad.”
July 7 is set as the main date for the channel swim from Saint Lucia to Martinique. This date is flexible depending on weather. Alternate dates for July 8 and 9 have been set depending on weather conditions. This year the channel will be attempted by two solo swimmers: Sandra Bergquist and Kevin Pollman. Both are from Minnesota and are avid open water swimmers who have swum in various parts of the world.
Most recently, Bergquist completed El Cruce from Cancun to Isla Mujeres in 2 hours and 11 minutes, placing first for women and second overall. On March 28, Pollman placed first in the Apolima Strait Swim, a 22.3 km race between the two largest islands of Samoa, from Upolu to Savai’i. He completed this swim in 6 hours and 17 minutes.
Excitedly, Sue Dyson announced that there will also be a local trio attempting to swim the channel, all from Adventure Swim Club, whose team mantra is: “If we can see it, we can swim it!” The trio consists of Vanessa Eugene, Monique Devaux-Lovell and Rodriguez “Rodja” Constantine. This group has consistently been training for the swim since deciding to take the plunge.
The races and clinics will be open to the public. Registration can be completed online by visiting the Facebook page: St Lucia Channel Swim or by emailing sluchannelswim@gmail.com. Registrations completed before June 21 will receive a free commemorative T-shirt. Further information can be found on the social media pages at @sluchannelswim.
