WITH a number of swimmers set to transition to different age groups this year, coach Gillian Millwood believes there is a lot of work to be done to ensure that Jamaica remains competitive in the aquatics arena.

The Jamaicans will be seeking to upgrade their regional status when they dive into a busy calendar season at the 29th CARIFTA Swimming Championships to be staged in Barbados in April. They will then make their way to San Salvador, El Salvador, for the Central American and Caribbean Amateur Swimming Confederation (CCCAN) championships.

“This year is a pretty tightly packed schedule for the swimmers, so lots of work [is] to be done, and I just think everybody is so excited,” Millwood told the Jamaica Observer in a recent interview.

“Most of these guys will be headed to CARIFTA, because that is the lowest level, and that in itself is challenging being their first step onto the regional scene and competing for the country. CCCAN will be a little bit more difficult, because the time requirement is twice as fast as for CARIFTA and then you go by world standards for Pan Am,” she added.

The Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada, in July will be followed by the FINA World Championships in Kazan, Russia, in August. Jamaica’s sensation and Short Course World Championship 100-metre breaststroke record holder, Alia Atkinson will be a feature in Russia.

Joseph Black, 15, and 14-year-old Jesse Marsh are Jamaica’s prospects for the FINA World Junior Championships in Singapore and Commonwealth Youth Games in Samoa. Both events are scheduled to take place in September.

“FINA Worlds is for Alia and maybe Timothy Winter and Jevaughn (Atkinson), if he sets his sights on it. Leanne McMaster, Winter again and Sidrell Williams are a few of our top swimmers who could feature at Pan Am if they are up for it,” Millwood explained.

She continued: “Jesse Marsh has been passionate about Commonwealth Youth since they announced the qualification criteria, so his eyes are set on that. Joseph Black is looking to do even more after CCCAN… he has his sights set on either World Juniors or Commonwealth Youths and we will be working towards that.

“But right now we are going to take it step by step. The swimming technical committee is looking at what meets are best to enter, how many swimmers we have close to qualification, and the budget to be outlined to see what sort of sponsorship we can get to push our swimmers forward into all those events.”

With most of the country’s senior swimmers being based overseas, the spotlight has been focused on the emerging local-based talent such as Black, Marsh, Angara Sinclair, Nicholas Haughton, Annastasia Chin, Naomi Eaton, Jordane Payne, Sage Sinclair, Brittany Williams, and Kyle Sinclair, among others.

Millwood pointed out that most of the 40 swimmers from the junior and development squads are potential prospects for CARIFTA.

The Karl Dalhouse Memorial Meet and the Walter Rogers Age Group National Championships will both take place in February, and will provide swimmers the opportunity to achieve qualifying times for CARIFTA.