The CARIFTA (Caribbean Free Trade Association) Games aquatic championships, one of the biggest annual meets in the Caribbean, has been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The meet was scheduled for March 26-April 7, with the swimming portion to take place April 3-6 in Barbados. The event, which includes water polo, open-water and artistic swimming competitions, instead has been cancelled. The CARIFTA Championships offer an important chance for many swimmers in the region looking to push toward the Olympics, especially smaller nations that rarely get to compete long-course.
The decision was made by the Barbados Amateur Swimming Association (BASA) that it would be unable to host the event. The cancellation came, “after a review of the current COVID-19 situation in Barbados and by extension, in the region.” The possibility of a new date will be revisited after Barbados lifts its “national pause” on Feb. 17.
From a letter by Cheryl Lady Forde:
“In the absence of a vaccine, with the new variant present in Barbados, community spread locally, the general spiking of COVID-19 cases in neighbouring countries and changing travel protocols locally and in a number of our neighbouring countries, it was agreed that it would be prudent to postpone this regional competition at this time.”
The CARIFTA Games, which is a sanctioned Olympic qualifying meet, had the go-ahead as recently as November. The 2020 CARIFTA Games, which were due to be held in Barbados, were cancelled by the pandemic, with hosting for 2021’s meet shifted away from St. Lucia, which will host in 2022. The CARIFTA Games Track and Field Championships, originally slated for April 3-5 in Bermuda, were previously postponed to July 2-4.
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