Onanda Lowe ready to make her own name
Published:Saturday | March 26, 2022 | 12:05 AMDaniel Wheeler/Staff Reporter
She may come from a footballing family, but Immaculate Conception High’s long jumper Onanda Lowe says that she wants to chart her own sporting legacy in athletics, and hopes to enjoy competing again after a turbulent campaign last year.
Lowe will be returning to the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Championships (Champs) this year, making her Class One debut in the long jump. While she is focused on getting on the podium, Lowe says that she just wants to get back into action after she contracted COVID-19 last year and was forced to end her season early..
“Catching COVID was really disappointing because I had to quarantine for two weeks and those two weeks were very close to Champs,” Lowe told The Gleaner. “Coming back, I’m really glad. I wanted to give up but my coaches and my teammates have been pushing me and telling me that ‘you can do it, you just have to give yourself time’ but I’m not really a patient person. But I’m really glad to be able to come back to training and to come this far.”
What is also important for her is being recognised on her own merit outside of her father, former national player Onandi, and her brother, current national defender Damion. While proud of her family’s sporting line, she says it is important for her to make her own mark, her way.
‘I AM ONANDA’
“I would definitely like to build my own name. It’s not a bad thing but I am tired of people saying Onandi Lowe’s daughter. No, I am Onanda. So I definitely want to build my own name so that people can say, ‘Oh, this is Onanda’. They don’t have to start off with ‘this is Onandi Lowe’s daughter’.” Lowe said. “That is one of the main reasons why I haven’t stopped track and field. The training is hard but I am always here and I love it.”
Lowe finished second at the Corporate Champs earlier this month and has been relying on the counsel of coach Franz Forde in getting ready to compete at a higher level. With only one more year left of eligibility, Lowe says she is determined to make her final years at school count.
“Mostly, he (Forde) has been telling me to trust the process, trust my training, go out there and have fun. So transitioning into Class One being one of the elder girls going into Champs is kind of sad because I will soon be leaving high school. So these two years are very important and I have to make the best of it,” Lowe said. “So I am really glad to be back just to get a feel of what it feels like, because I really missed it.”