BRIDGETOWN, Barbados  -The Carifta Swimming Championships which were originally scheduled to be staged at the end of March and early April in Barbados have been indefinitely postponed after  Prime Minister Mia Mottley announced a national lockdown last Tuesday night.

Lady Cheryl Forde. president of the Barbados Amateur Swimming Association (BASDA), announced the postponement in a news release.

“It is with greatest regret that I must inform you that Carifta 2021 will not take place in Barbados, as scheduled for March 26th -April 7th. An executive decision was taken this evening by the BASA to postpone Carifta 2021 after a review of the current COVID-19 situation in Barbados and, by extension, in the region.”

“It was agreed that a new date would be decided after the ‘national pause’ lockdown that is expected to end on February 17th and after we have had an opportunity to meet with the COVID-19 Monitoring Unit.”

With Caribbean countries struggling to access a vaccine, the decision to postpone the event became necessary, Lady Forde said.

“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.”

This year’s event  was set to be a FINA approved qualification competition for the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo.