THE 16th staging of the Tornadoes Swim Club Invitational Swim Meet at the National Stadium Swimming Pool was expected to get underway last evening.

The meet has been approved as an Olympic qualifier by FINA, the world governing body of swimming. It will feature second seed in the 50M and 100M freestyle St Vincent swimmer Tolga Akcayli, a wildcard entrant for the Olympics, who is seeking to qualify and whose trip has been funded by the St Vincent Olympic Committee and the IOC.

The local swimmers will also be using the meet to qualify for the upcoming Caribbean Islands Swimming Championships (CISC) in July. The three-day event has attracted 457 swimmers from 13 clubs, including Blank Sands Swim Squad from St Vincent and the Grenadines.

The hosts and defending champions are brimming with confidence to retain their trophy as the club’s charge for championship points will be bolstered by gold medallists, Anastasia Chin and Tiara Myrie, as well as other finalists from the recently concluded CARIFTA Swimming Championships earlier this month.

Also participating in the meet will be Jamaica’s other CARIFTA gold medallists Breanaa Roman, Angara Sinclair and Kevaughn Campbell, as well as finalists Ivana Chang and Sidrell Williams, who will continue to prove their dominance in the water in their respect events.  

St Vincent’s Kyle Dougan will also be competing in the Masters Category.