Athletes can still pursue Olympic swimming qualification

President of the Guyana Amateur Swimming Association (GASA), Dwayne Scott, has expressed willingness to let athletes still compete at Olympic qualifiers even after a pair of Guyanese swimmers were offered spots in the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Over the past week, many rumours swirled about the two Guyanese swimmers who would take up FINA’s Universality spots at the Tokyo Olympics. It has been alleged that Leon Seaton would be given the green light, ahead of his older counterpart Andrew Fowler.

While this has all been cleared up, with Jamila Sanmoogan and Andrew Fowler being Guyana’s male and female representatives, GASA President Dwyane Scott has made it clear that he is in support of the athletes’ nomination and any ventures to clock better times.
“And we support all athletes trying to get the best possible time that they can accomplish. Yes, we support that,” Scott noted in an invited comment.
On the topic of Leon Seaton, the GASA boss explained that while Seaton’s qualification looks unlikely at the moment, he would still be afforded opportunity to participate in qualification events.
“He still is (pursuing the qualification event), but the distance he is from qualification might make it impossible for him to actually qualify. But we have not ceased sending anybody to qualification meets, they can continue to do so,” the GASA President shared with this publication.
FINA, the International Swimming Federation, last month wrote to GASA and the Guyana Olympic Association, offering the Universality spots to Sanmoogan and Fowler, after Guyana’s team failed to qualify for the Tokyo Games, which would be held from July 23 to August 8.
The Universality spots, one male and one female, are usually afforded by FINA to countries which have no swimming qualifier for the Olympics’ swimming event. While this would be a first-time outing for Andrew Fowler, Jamila Sanmoogan is no stranger to the Games, having competed in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.