With the aim of building on the foundation laid in aquatics, president of the Aquatics Sports Association of Jamaica (ASAJ) Lance Rochester says it will take an annual investment of $250 million to support their myriad programmes and take them to greater heights, including improved representation at the Olympic Games.

The ASAJ currently oversees several aquatic disciplines, including competitive swimming, artistic swimming, open water swimming, diving, and water polo. Jamaica has had relative success in those fields, particularly in competitive swimming which includes consistent representation at the Olympic Games.

At the Paris Games, which ended earlier this month, Sabrina Lyn and Josh Kirlew represented the island, marking the eighth-consecutive appearance for Jamaica at the summer Games and the 11th in the nation’s history. English-born Yona Knight-Wisdom has also brought spotlight to the country with his exploits in diving with historic appearances at Rio 2016, Tokyo in 2021 and this summer in the French capital.

However, there is a belief that the country should be further ahead in swimming and aquatics in general. Swim icon and world record holder Alia Atkinson told the
Jamaica Observer recently that greater corporate and government investment is essential in developing local talent which would grow the sport tremendously.

Rochester, who has served as president for the last eight months, says a detailed plan is being laid out to achieve greater success but a quarter of a billion dollars would be needed.

“We’re roughly looking at $250 million for an annual budget to do all the things we want to do,” he told the
Observer.

“A portion of that is borne from various stakeholders but in our strategic planning process, we have to put all the needs on the table and look at creative ways to fund these initiatives over time, recognising that ultimately our job is to deliver value to our stakeholders, principally Jamaica’s youth but also all of those who are engaged in aquatic ventures in the country.”

Rochester says they have received support from private sector which has funded participation at major championships. However, he says they’ll be making a greater push to garner more funding.

“Of course, there is more that is needed and there’s more value that we want to show to corporate Jamaica. We’re in the process of finalising a four-year strategic plan which aims to demonstrate why a partnership with the ASAJ, which has eight sports under its umbrella and is responsible for pushing the learn to swim initiative and drowning prevention and expansion all island, is valuable for them,” Rochester said.

“It’s a work in progress, we’ve hit the ground running and we have seen some fruits but there’s much more to do on our part and much more partnerships to get towards the end of the year into next year.”

Rochester says the ASAJ will also need several government ministries to assist with the growth of the aquatic programmes.

“When we’ve completed our strategic plan, especially the aspect that is focused on expansion and learn to swim, we’re sure the Government will see clearly how they’re able to assist us at various levels because there are various arms of government that needs to be involved in this business of the all island learn to swim initiative where swimming is a right of all children,” he said.

“The Ministry of Education has a role to play, local government has a role to play, it’s not just the Ministry of Sport. We’re actually going through a very exciting process to put all the objectives on the table and we’re focused on delivering value to our athletes who are here now, transforming the ASAJ for now and for the future.”

Rochester says it’s the ASAJ’s goal to implement initiatives to ensure the country is not only well represented at the LA Games in 2028 but is also competing with the world’s best in the long term.

“That’s where our high-performance programme comes in and the various interventions that can support athlete development now and into the future; so we have to look carefully, which we’re doing now, and what else can be provided,” he said.

“Besides coaching support, what are the technologies that are being used overseas in the best programmes, the sports science, the sports medicine, nutrition, psychological training. We’re trying to bring all of that together to provide as much value to our athletes as possible to ensure that they can transition from the age group level to the 2028 Olympic level, qualifying with an A standard.”

He is also striving to ensure that Jamaica has a more comprehensive representation on the biggest stage.

“Into the longer term at the Olympics, we’d love to see divers, artistic swimmers, a water polo team and there’s open water swimming, so we’d love to see athletes compete in that as well. The ASAJ has a lot to offer Jamaica in terms of representation in sports and at the elite level and we’re really working to get all our ducks in a row to ensure that we’re as efficient as possible and delivering as much value as possible to all stakeholders.”