ASAJ to name coach soon

Robert Bailey, Gleaner Writer

John Eyre, president of the Amateur Swimming Association of Jamaica (ASAP), said his administration is very close to hiring a new technical director to replace Jackie Walter, who resigned in August after serving 17 years in the post.

"Two persons have applied for the job and the swimming technical committee is now reviewing their resumes," said Eyre in an interview with The Gleaner yesterday.

"These are people that we know and hopefully, in the next week or so we should be able to select one of these persons for the job, " he said.

Eyre, who did not disclosed the names of the applicants, added that the successful person will be given a four-month contract by the ASAJ, which will end after the CARIFTA Swimming Championships at the end of April next year.

"It is not going to be a full-time national coaching job, because we have cut down on the number of training sessions for the squad, which will allow the clubs to pick up some of the slack for us there," Eyre said.

Strong candidate

"We're looking for someone who is very strong in coordinating and maximising the resources that we have available locally, rather than someone who is a strong coach,"said Eyre. "Based on the applications that we have received we are trying to see who best fits in the programme and who can carry us through until the end of April."

He added that his association will name a new coach at the end of April and this person will be in charge of preparing the team for the World Swimming Championships in Shanghai, China, scheduled for July 16-31, 2011.

Meanwhile, commenting of Walter's departure, Eyre said: "There weren't any issues between the association and the coach; and so she just resigned because she wanted to do something different now.

"Jackie is still a member of the ASAJ technical committee and will be working with the association from behind the scene," Eyre noted.