Sat | Sep 13, 2025

Swim for the Sanctuary returns bigger

Published:Friday | November 3, 2023 | 12:11 AMAinsley Walters/Gleaner Writer
Smiles for the Sanctuary: From left, Rojah Thomas, director, retail sales, Caribbean Producers Jamaica (CPJ); Marvin Kerr, brand coordinator, WATA; Bethany Young, group communications manager, Rainforest Caribbean; Lance Rochester, vice-president, Water Po
Contributed
Smiles for the Sanctuary: From left, Rojah Thomas, director, retail sales, Caribbean Producers Jamaica (CPJ); Marvin Kerr, brand coordinator, WATA; Bethany Young, group communications manager, Rainforest Caribbean; Lance Rochester, vice-president, Water Polo, Aquatics Sports Association of Jamaica; Carey Wallace, executive director, Tourism Enhancement Fund; Kyle Mais, director, Jamaica Inn Foundation; Elon Parkinson, head of communications and corporate affairs, Digicel; Felix Charnley, coral consultant, White River Fish Sanctuary; Kerry-Ann Chong, director, sales and service, Scotia Jamaica Life Insurance; Alan Beckford, race director, Swim for the Sanctuary; Lorna Robinson, marketing, promotion and events officer, Jamaica Tourist Board; Belinda Collier-Morrow, co-chair, White River Fish Sanctuary and Chris-Anthony Saulter, marketing manager, CPJ.

IN three short years, Jamaica Inn Foundation’s Swim for the Sanctuary has established itself as a year-end, go-to event on the Aquatics Sports Association of Jamaica’s calendar, returning Saturday, November 11, at its Shaw Park Beach home in Ocho Rios, St Ann.

Among the first mass sporting events to be staged at the tail end of the COVID-19 pandemic, Swim for the Sanctuary has grown each year, mirroring its neighbourhood cause, preservation of the White River Fish Sanctuary, which, after five years, has seen a 55 per cent increase in fish size, 47 per cent jump in fish numbers, and 28 per cent more coral-cover in the three and a half mile no-fishing zone.

Having added paddle-boarding last year to its inaugural 500-metre, 1k, 3k, 5k and relay events, Swim for the Sanctuary will stage a water polo demonstration as part of this year’s meet, introducing another aquatic sporting discipline to its mainly youthful participants.

Partnering with Caribbean Producers Jamaica and the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF), the Jamaica Inn Foundation wooed telecommunications company Digicel to join other sponsors such as Couples Resorts, ScotiaInsurance, Rainforest, WATA, Sagicor Investments, IronRock Insurance, S Hotels, Jamaica Inn, Smatt’s, and One Great Studio.

Digicel’s head of communications and corporate relations, Elon Parkinson, said helping to protect the environment and playing a part in mitigating climate change was important to the telecom’s resilience.

“Our network is tested by disasters brought about by climate change,” he pointed out, describing the partnership as a “winning combination”.

“Climate-related weather events that are worsened by the degradation of coral-reef ecosystems can have far-reaching impacts on our operations in the same way they affect our fisher folk and others whose livelihoods depend on the marine ecosystem,” he added.

Dr Carey Wallace, executive director, TEF, said Swim for the Sanctuary was one of Jamaica’s sports tourism gems, which should be “polished to attract more people to the country”.

“The more we develop on the gems we have, in this case sports tourism, having people outdoors at this time of the year, as opposed to being indoors in some cold country, it compounds the experience,” Wallace added.

Race director Alan Beckford expects 200 participants, up from 120 last year, mainly juniors in the 12-15 age group, joined by seniors such as international masters swimmer Jamaican Adrienne Chin-Ogilvie, who, last year, became the first woman to compete in the Aquathlon World Championships.

White River Fish Sanctuary’s co-chair, Belinda Collier-Morrow, pointed out that Swim for the Sanctuary is among the fundraisers staged by the Jamaica Inn Foundation in support of the marine reserve.

Kyle Mais, director, Jamaica Inn Foundation, announced a fixed date for the event.

“Going forward, Swim for the Sanctuary will be an annual event set for the first Saturday in November,” Mais declared.