WHILE she believes artistic swimming in Jamaica has made significant strides over the years, Vice-President Maureen Smith is calling for more support to ensure the continued growth and progress of the sport.

Smith outlined that, like all sporting disciplines, their sights are set on World Championships and Olympic Games qualifications, but without adequate backing the task of bringing that vision to fruition will be that much harder.

Jamaica’s artistic swimmers have over the years competed successfully in a several international competitions but they soared to new heights last year when members of the Island Aquatics Synchro club had a book written about them and more importantly, were featured on Beyonce’s Grammy-nominated visual album Black is King, appearing in the video Mood 4 Eva.

Initiatives such as the music video have played a major role in boosting the country’s brand in the sport and Smith pointed out that they are now aiming to build on that, as she maintains a positive outlook for the year ahead.

“The book done by a Spanish writer on our Jamaican swimmers in Portland and the feature on Beyonce’s album have propelled us all over the world because now persons have reached out to us and they are aware of what we are doing. But, we are trying to put our name out there a bit more.

“So in the past year, despite the pandemic, we have participated in virtual competitions and we have ramped up our social media marketing so more persons would be talking about us,” Smith told the Jamaica Observer.

“So all in all we have had some good accomplishments, and activations like those will help us to not only be known for competition – because although we do a lot of competitions now, we are also opening ourselves up to commercials and to being in other creative spaces to further promote the sport,” she added.

Though the COVID-19 pandemic initially left the swimmers without a pool and without one another, two essential elements of a sport more often known by its previous name, synchronised swimming, Smith said the virtual competitions ensured the athletes were stimulated with new challenges and short-term goals to keep their level of motivation high.

“They are holding up quite well. We have designed the programme so that they do certain stretches and exercises at home as well as to complement what they would do physically.

“So that has been working well; the kids are excited about being able to promote themselves, not just with the Beyonce project but also being able to compete virtually with other kids around the world, which they would not normally be able to do. That has also broadened their experience and they get an idea of the other things that are out there regarding the sport,” Smith shared.

With the virtual events proving to be influential for the athletes, Smith noted that they are aiming to participate in a few more in January and February to make up for the unfortunate possibility that they might forgo the Carifta Swimming Championships in Barbados in March.

“We did one in November and that went well, though we need to improve on the technical aspects, but it was a good tester and because of how good that was, we want to do one again with Cayman and some other countries virtually for the end of January and the end of February. So we are looking forward to that because, based on what we are seeing, we don’t think it would be feasible to take on Carifta in March,” she noted.

That said, Smith beamed about the outcome of their annual winter show in which athletes of the Portland-based Island Aquatics Synchro club showcased their favourite parts of the parish and a special routine. The one-hour event was aired live.

“God bless TVJ; we are so thankful to them for allowing us an hour slot and we are truly grateful, because this year we weren’t able to do our physical fund-raising event in Portland. So we really depend on this end-of-year show for the club so for us to have them still showcase what we do to a wider audience, that was tremendous,” a delighted Smith stated.

She continued: “So we appreciate the support of Eustace Lee Limited who sponsored us for the show, and they have just been incredibly supportive over the years. And, of course, we can’t do this without the Ministry of Sport helping us out when we need help and giving us technical support; and of course you know they also had helped us with going to China and training there.

“So we are just appreciative of the persons who assisted us in being here and we are just looking forward to more support so that the sport can grow. We still have not accomplished our main goal, which is to get to the World Championships and of course the Olympics and that is what we have in sight – and we would love to get that done.”

Russian Coach Olga Novokchshenova-Lee, Yoaris Milian and Jun Tochino are responsible for guiding the athletes along with assistance from older swimmers Nyouka Baugh and Ajon Llewellyn, plus Rachel Minto-Walker.