Sabrina Lynn will represent Jamaica in the women’s 50m freestyle at the Paris Olympics.
Although they are not considered medal contenders at the Paris Olympics, Hilary Brown-Nixon, vice-president of swimming for the Swimming Association of Jamaica (ASAJ), said she hopes Josh Curlew and Sabrina Lynn will inspire the next generation of Jamaican swimmers.
It will be the seventh consecutive time Islanders have competed in swimming events at a Summer Olympics, with UK-based Curlew competing in the men’s 100m butterfly and 20-year-old Lynn competing in the women’s 50m freestyle.
A former Campion College star who won numerous titles at youth level for Jamaica, Lynn will make history as the first Jamaican woman to compete in the swimming event since Natasha Moody in 2008, apart from the legendary Alia Atkinson.
Brown Nixon said she believes the pair are carrying on the country’s sporting tradition and paving the way for the country’s rising stars.
“We have swimmers competing at all levels so having representation at the Olympic level is very important. The under-eights, or nine, 10-year-olds, can see themselves in Sabrina and Josh so they have something to aspire to. So we’re really excited and hopefully we’ll have even more good swimmers competing in the future,” she told the Jamaica Observer.
“The great thing about Sabrina is that we’ve known her since age group swimming. The kids know her. At CARIFTA this year, she was captain of our team, so it’s going to be exciting for the kids to literally train with them and see Sabrina reach the pinnacle of her athletic career. The kids and ASAJ are so excited to have someone carry on the tradition that Alia started for us.”
Jamaica will be expected to add to its Olympic medal tally in track and field, but Brown-Nixon does not expect Curlew and Lynn to repeat their results in the pool because of the highly competitive nature of the event.
“The great swimming nations are the United States, Australia, some European countries and South Africa. They have hundreds of swimmers on their teams who qualify for the swim meet. Whereas our country only has two,” Brown-Nixon said.
“Plus, to qualify for the Olympics, you can compete through either an ‘A-cut,’ like an Olympic qualifying time, a ‘B-cut,’ like an Olympic consideration time, or a universal method where the highest ranked swimmer in your country is selected to compete. Josh and Sabrina are competing through the universal method, which means there are other swimmers who have an A-cut or qualifying time and could potentially qualify for the Olympics,” she added.
However, head coach Brown-Nixon says he is not putting any pressure on his swimmers and expects them to attempt their best records, with Killew boasting a personal best of 54.24 seconds in the men’s 100m butterfly and Lynn boasting a personal best of 25.83 seconds in the women’s 50m freestyle.
“We are hoping that our swimmers will perform well and improve their personal bests, but we’re not at the same level as the powerhouse swimming teams. We’re not there yet and it will take time to get there, but we have plans in place to have more Olympic qualification opportunities from the age group swimming level in the future,” she said.
While ASAJ’s involvement in Olympic preparations may be minimal, Brown Nixon says they are taking every step to ensure athletes are prepared to compete.
“Both Josh and Sabrina have had their coaches since they were kids. Sabrina, for example, is with Wendy Lee, who is also her Olympic coach, so she knows him well and continues to prepare for him. Plus, Josh is with the only team he’s had since he was a kid that’s gotten him to this level, so he’ll continue to prepare with his respective coaches,” she said.
“There won’t be anything like a training camp as we only have two swimmers. But they continue to train with local coaches and we support their efforts and communication with the JOA to make sure they are all prepared.”
Curlew is scheduled to begin competition on August 2nd and Lin on August 3rd at the Paris La Défense Arena.
