• Submitted by: admin
• Sports
• 04 / 25 / 2007

When asked to share some of her experiences, 12-year-old Amanda spoke with surprising ease.

How did you first get involved in the sport?

Since I was little, my parents would take me to the beach and I enjoyed it a lot. But when I started at the daycare center they were afraid that I would jump in a nearby pool, which they considered dangerous.

When I began first grade I realized that I wanted to practice swimming. Starting in 2002, I participated in several competitions in Matanzas before attending the Marcelo Salado School.

When did you become a member of the Cuban swim team?

Last September, so these ALBA Games will be my first international competition. Afterwards I would also like to go to the next Central American and Caribbean Swimming Championship to be held in El Salvador.

Are you following in the footsteps of Cubas Imaday Nunez in the breaststroke?

I would like to but that is something very hard to equal because Imaday has been one of the best in recent years.

How are you doing at school?

Im doing well, especially in Math. Im getting nines and tens in almost all my classes, although Spanish is my least favorite class... Hey, you didnt ask me what kind of music I like!

What is it?

Reggaeton.

Along with Amanda, other rookies arriving in Caracas for the ALBA Games were Pedro Medel, Camila Carrillo, Yumisleisis Morales, Julio Carrillo and Andy Milian, all between 12 and 15-years-old, as well as veteran swimmers Heysi Villarreal and David Rodriguez, all under the guidance of trainer Luisa Mojarrieta.

The Second ALBA (Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas) Sports Games will open in Barquisimento, Venezuela on April 27 and runs through May 12 with some 4,000 athletes registered.

The First ALBA Games took place in 2005 in eight Cuban provinces with 1,756 athletes from 19 nations participating. The games are seen as a way to promote Latin American and Caribbean integration "one of the main objectives of the ALBA" as well as promoting values of fraternity and solidarity.

Source: Granma