2021 CARIFTA Aquatics in limbo The 2021 CARIFTA Aquatics Championships is in jeopardy of not taking place due to ongoing restrictions in the host nation of Barbados.
Under normal circumstances, the Bahamas Aquatics Federation would have been preparing to send a team to Bridgetown, Barbados for the 2021 CARIFTA Aquatics Championships, but in the latest update from officials in Barbados on Saturday past, there is no telling when that event will happen, as the region is still battling the COVID-19 pandemic.
There was no CARIFTA last year, due to the presence of COVID-19 and the meet has already been postponed from its original date over the Easter holiday weekend this year. Due to a spike in cases in Barbados in January, the host country placed restrictions on events in early February and organizers were forced to postpone the meet. It has been two weeks since the host venue, the Barbados Aquatic Center, reopened after closing on January 6.
NACAC preparing for busy summer
Regional body keeping members informed through weekly newsletter Mike Sands.
Battling through this current COVID-19 environment, Mike Sands, the Bahamian president of the North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletic Association (NACAC) said it is their intention to facilitate the advancement of athletics in this region as best as possible, moving forward with established plans and athletic competitions this year.
The CARIFTA Games is now set for the latest it has ever been held in a calendar year – August 13-15 at the Bermuda National Sports Centre in Hamilton, Bermuda. The NACAC Under-18 (U18) and Under-23 (U23) Championships is still on the table, tentatively set for July 9-11, at the Kirani James Athletic Stadium in St. George’s, Grenada. Both are high on the priority list for NACAC, but the ever-present nature of COVID-19 leads to uncertainty in the staging of the two meets.
It’s confirmed: CARIFTA is postponed again In this file photo, Devynne Charlton, second from right holds off Teammate Carmiesha Cox and Jamaican Monique Spencer on far left for the Girls Under-20 Gold at Carifta 2013.
Following up on reports, it was confirmed yesterday that the annual CARIFTA Games are indeed postponed again – moving from July 2-4 to August 13-15 as a result of the date change in the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) schedule for secondary school students.
The CXC exams are now scheduled for June 13 to July 16, forcing CARIFTA to be moved again, but still at the Bermuda National Sports Centre in Hamilton, Bermuda. The new date is now less than a week after the completion of the Summer Olympics, in Tokyo, Japan. During a North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletic Association (NACAC) online press conference yesterday, area president Bahamian Mike Sands, said that this would be the last resort for the games. If it is not held in mid-August, it
CARIFTA 2021 could be postponed
CARIFTA 2021 is on…. for now.
According to North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletic Association (NACAC) President Mike Sands, a Bahamian, cancellation of the premier junior athletics meet in this region is not an option at this juncture, but it can be postponed.
The 2021 CARIFTA Games is one of those regional meets that is set for the early part of 2021, and at this point, it’s obvious that COVID-19 will still be a nuisance in portions of 2021, if not for the entire year. The World Athletics (WA) World Indoor Championships, initially scheduled for March 13-15, 2020, in Nanjing, China, were pushed to March 2021, and now they are being postponed again, set for March 17-19, 2023, still in Nanjing. The biennial meet will now be held for three successive years, in 2022, 2023 and 2024.