National swimmers Danielle Titus and Damon St Prix led a galaxy of rising stars who were honoured when the highly successful Alpha Swim Club held their awards ceremony at the National Union of Public Workers headquarters in Dalkeith, St Michael, last Saturday.
In addition to a host of other awards, Titus and St Prix were voted the respective Female and Male Swimmer Of The Year, with club president Stefan Sherry also acknowledging the hard work and dedication of the swimmers, parents, coaches and volunteers in building the past and plotting the future success of Alpha Sharks.
However, while Sherry said Alpha had been able to remove the daunting financial debt that had threatened its advancement, he said the current membership needed to help repay the debt owed to the likes of past Olympians Leah Martindale-Stancil, Andrei Cross and Terrence Haynes, along with Chris Gibbs, who swam the English Channel, as well as the hundreds who had given sterling service to the club.
“We must set our goals on repaying the debt to the generation who went before us by building a strong team, great unity and a great community. Let us build up Alpha to make Alpha the premier club in Barbados,” said Sherry.
Alpha and Sherry did not have to look very far for some of those key building blocks with Pamela Mullins copping the coveted Club Builder Award and former Alpha and Barbados Amateur Swimming Association president Sonia O’Neal and Juel Gittens sharing The President’s Award.
The Martindale-Stancil Award to Sherry on behalf of his daughter Sariyah Sherry, who is overseas, while Olympians Haynes and Cross were present to give the awards named after them to respective winners Alex Sobers and Raymond Edwards.
Even the beginners were highlighted, with certificates being issued for the Learn To Swim Children, the Promotion From Learn To Swim Competitive, Improvement Certificates and Children Promoted To Senior Group.
Danielle Agard beat out Shalom Forrester and Ladisha Boyce for the Victor Norville Memorial Award that was presented by Aisha Norville, the daughter of the former Alpha coach.
The Roderick Reece Memorial Trophy went to Aza Dunwoody while St Prix also claimed The Spirit Of Alpha Award.
Special recognition was given to Nation freelancer Ancille Inniss who has been coaching swimming for over two decades. Cuban Antonio Petrolando was handed an Outstanding Service Award.
In addition to homegrown entertainment, the audience in the packed auditorium also received musical and spoken word treats from Ossieann Joe, Janine White and Shane Forrester. (KB)
