by LeVaughn Flynn, Staff Reporter
University of Trinidad and Tobago's swim team joke around before a practice session yesterday at the National Stadium swimming pool. - LeVaughn Flynn
A small university from the twin island republic of Trinidad and Tobago is vowing to topple the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, when both institutions meet this afternoon in the Mayberry Investments Limited Swim Meet at the National Stadium pools.
The University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT), which has approximately 5,000 students enrolled in nine campuses across both islands, said it is looking to deny UWI their third straight title in the tertiary schools category of the meet.
"Let it be known that UTT is here to end that streak," quipped the school's swim coach, Paul Newallo, an Olympian who competed in the 100 and 200m breaststroke for Trinidad and Tobago in the 1984 Los Angeles Games.
The first time participants in the annual Mayberry meet have a 12-member team, 10 males and two females.
One of the swimmers, Joseph Ryan, who will compete in the 100m breaststroke and the 200m individual medley, added: "We're not just expecting to beat them. We expect a strong challenge."
The 11th staging of the Mayberry Swim Meet will be held in two stages this year. The first phase today will include high schools and tertiary institutions and next Saturday Prep and Primary Schools will get their turn at proving their prowess in the pool.
Four hundred and seventy-two swimmers from 19 schools, including both universities, will compete today.
Newallo pointed out that he is looking forward to the day when there will be a swim meet dedicated to Caribbean universities. This, he said, would aid the sports development as not all of the region's top swimmers are in US colleges.
UTT's swim team is a product of the schools sports programme, Academy of Sports and Leisure Studies, which was launched last September. The programme includes 10 sporting disciplines and is conducted by some of the countries renowned athletes such as football coach Everad Cummings, who was a part of the 1989 'Strike Squad' that almost qualified for the 1990 World Cup and former West Indies cricketer Larry Gomes.
Newallo added that as the programme develops, the school's athletes will get better and will be competitive with other regional tertiary institutions.
"This (meet) is a major part of our curriculum and we want to create a relationship with all the other universities not only in Jamaica but in Barbados and all over the Caribbean," Newallo said.
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