Dec 11, 20202 min
We wish to advise that it is still the intention of Barbados to host Carifta at Easter 2021. We can also report that we have received approval from FINA for our LC Nationals ,March 02 to 07,2021 and Carifta April 03 to 06 ,2021 ,for these meets to be FINA approved qualifying meets for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics . Several Federations in the Eastern Caribbean do not have 50m pools, and having Carifta as an Olympic Qualifying meet provides an opportunity for athletes in the region to compete and hopefully achieve Olympic qualifying standards.
As stated in previous correspondence our facilities have been open from the end of July 2020 with protocols and without incident .We have also received approvals from our COVID-19 ,Task Force to have Pool Swimming and Open Water Swimming competitions , and will be holding our Short Course Nationals from December 01 to 06, 2020. One of our clubs will also be hosting a LC Meet from December 11-13, 2020. The summons for Carifta 2021 has been prepared in draft and we are awaiting approval from our COVID -19 Task Force ,particularly in respect Water Polo and Artistic Swimming . We expect to receive final approvals before the end of November and will inform all Federations as soon as the approvals are received and will issue the summons as soon possible thereafter .
We recognize the logistics associated with travel from some territories ,as well as the travel protocols that different countries may have in place and undertake to keep all Federations informed of any developments. Travel protocols to Barbados are available on the Barbados Government’s website which is updated every few weeks . As of now we can advise that there is no community spread in Barbados and the Government has put in place protocols intended to keep it that way while keeping the country open. A consideration that we can put to regional governments for Caribbean countries that may not be in the Caricom travel bubble ;is that teams intending to participate in Carifta be tested a (particular number of days )prior to arrival in Barbados and if negative ,the members be permitted to enter Barbados without further tests ,and return to their countries after their competition .Hopefully, these and other logistics can be advanced and agreed to before the end of November .
Best regards and please keep safe .
Tony Selby
Barbados Aquatic Sports Association