Alia Atkinson leaves her stamp on new generation of swimmers
Published:Sunday | March 19, 2023 | 2:01 AMLivingston Scott - Gleaner Writer
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SWIMMER SABRINA Lyn not only wants to follow in the footsteps of Jamaican swimming legend Alia Atkinson, the young swimmer is aiming to surpass her idol one day. Lyn secured the automatic Pan Am Games ‘A’ qualifying standard in the 100-metre...
SWIMMER SABRINA Lyn not only wants to follow in the footsteps of Jamaican swimming legend Alia Atkinson, the young swimmer is aiming to surpass her idol one day.
Lyn secured the automatic Pan Am Games ‘A’ qualifying standard in the 100-metre butterfly at the TYR Pro Swim Series in Fort Lauderdale recently, with a career best time of 1:01.46 seconds for fourth place in the ‘C’.
She also met the Aquatic Sports Association of Jamaica’s (ASAJ) minimum qualifying standard of 1:02.18 for the 2023 World Championships, and the Bolles Sharks swimmer is hoping to at least advance from the prelims in her debut World Championships.
“I would like to follow in her (Atkinson) footsteps and hopefully reach further,” said Lyn.
“The major goal (World Championships) is to do some best times and hopefully make it past prelims.
“My objectives for Pan Ams is to medal and do best times in all my events by around one to two seconds,” she added.
The former Carifta champion said qualifying for the two international tournaments brings her a step closer to her goal of qualifying for the Olympics.
Although she never expected the time that day, her performance in the early rounds gave her the confidence.
“I rested before the meet in hope I would drop time, but after prelims my hopes went up because I got close to my best time
“I’m pretty satisfied after doing a best time in my first senior meet.”
The young swimmer describes training at the Bolles School as consistent, saying she has progessed much since her arrival.
She is now working to fine-tune her techniques ahead of the Pan Am Championships later this year.
INCREASING FITNESS
“At the Bolles School, my technique and overall fitness has become much better. I’d like to focus on the little details like my turns and starts and also increasing my fitness,” she concluded.
Meanwhile, head coach and aquatics director at the Bolles school, Peter Verhoef, said the international competitions coming up are a first step to bigger and better performances for Sabrina.
He said they want to prepare her for more personal best times and to excel beyond just ‘qualifying’, but to make finals and win medals.
He added that they were proud of her progress and that she just needs to work on the little things.
“Her coaches in Jamaica taught her to race and perform in the moment. She has added an elite ability to prepare and train for those races, resulting in the level of swims she is putting up now.”
“There is not an ‘advanced’ next step for Sabrina, it is simply doing the little things better than before. We are going to continue to focus on kicking, underwater and within her stroke, and elevate her endurance for the longer sprints,” he said.