Sat | Sep 26, 2026

Swim for the Sanctuary here to stay

Published:Monday | November 7, 2022 | 12:08 AMAinsley Walters/Gleaner Writer
Caribbean Producers Jamaica chief executive officer, Tom Tyler (left), and Rojah Thomas, director, retail sales, present Zaneta Alvaranga and Benjamin Davis, respectively, with prizes for winning the female and male 5K races at Saturday’s second staging
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Caribbean Producers Jamaica chief executive officer, Tom Tyler (left), and Rojah Thomas, director, retail sales, present Zaneta Alvaranga and Benjamin Davis, respectively, with prizes for winning the female and male 5K races at Saturday’s second staging of the Jamaica Inn Foundation Swim for the Sanctuary Open Water Swim at White River House, Shaw Park Beach, Ocho Rios, St Ann at the weekend.

NATIONAL swimmer, 17-year-old Zaneta Alvaranga on Saturday completed the 5K course in 1:30.51, ‘christening’ the new distance added to this year’s staging of Swim for the Sanctuary at White River House, Shaw Park Beach, Ocho Rios, St Ann.

Benjamin Davis, a 15-19 age-group swimmer, won the 5K male category in 1:17.11 ahead of Zachary Randle, also a 15-19, who completed the course in 1:27.58.

In its second year, Swim for the Sanctuary is a Jamaica Inn Foundation fundraiser for the White River Fish Sanctuary - a no-take zone of 370 acres, covering approximately three and a half miles of coastline from St Ann to St Mary - established five years ago by the Jamaica Inn Foundation in tandem with the area’s fishers’ association.

Similar to its first staging, this year’s event had a successful turnout of 82 participants from Aquatic Sports Association of Jamaica-affiliated clubs across the island, competing in age-group races at 500 metres, 1K, 2K, and 4x100 metre relays, plus new events such as 3K and paddle-boarding.

Dr Carey Wallace, executive director, Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF), one of the sponsors, said his organisation aims to help mould Swim for the Sanctuary as a premier sports-tourism event in the St Ann-St Mary hospitality belt.

GREAT DESTINATION

“TEF has a responsibility to enhance Destination Jamaica, which is not just maintaining our natural assets. We are here to build out the capacity of diverse activities that make us a great destination. We look at this swim meet as a sports-tourism opportunity, an international event. Ocho Rios has the docks and there is the airport in St Mary.

“What we are looking at is to have the area bustling with swimming enthusiasts in November. It’s one thing to have a swim meet elsewhere in the world where the weather is cold as opposed to where it’s warm,” Wallace pointed out.

The TEF executive director said his organisation “push-starts” events such as Swim for the Sanctuary, making them successful and attractive to other sponsors, a strategy that obviously worked as Scotia Jamaica Life Insurance joined this year’s staging as a gold sponsor.

Platinum-sponsor Caribbean Producers Jamaica, through its charitable arm, Care Protect Jamaica, was among returnees such as WATA, the Jamaica Tourist Board, Couples Resorts, Rainforest, Chukka Jamaica IronRock Insurance Company, Sagicor Investments, Spanish Court Hotel, and One Great Studio.

Debra Lopez-Spence of Scotia Jamaica Life Insurance said her company supporting Swim for the Sanctuary was an easy decision.

“It’s an extremely beautiful event and a sport that runs through ages, ensuring a healthy lifestyle, which we are here to help ensure. There are a lot of young people here, representing the health and future of Jamaica,” she said.

Detailed results for Jamaica Inn Foundation Swim for the Sanctuary Open Water Swim 2022 are available online at https://my.raceresult.com/214844/.