History

AVAA and Masters in Venezuela

In 1986, the 50 year old Venezuelan-American Friendship Association, known by its' Spanish acronym "AVAA", endorsed and organized the first FINA rules Masters swimming championship and named it the: "Triple Corona de Natación Master Amistad", an event held three times a year in three different cities in Venezuela.

Birth of the Latin-American & Caribbean Championship

In 1990 the Council of the newly formed Triple Crown Foundation, announced the first Latin-American & Caribbean Championship to be held in 1991 at the Naciones Unidas Sporting Complex in Caracas, the same venue that hosted the 1982 Pan-American Games.

The idea was to jump on the band wagon of the swimming trend for Masters and include other countries in the Americas and Caribbean, besides the U.S.A. and Canada. At that time there were no regional events offered and the Masters swimming was still in an infant stage. Native Latins, Caribbeans and foreigners who resided south of the Rio Grande were eligible to compete.

1st. Championship - Caracas, Venezuela - 1991

Registered swimmers from Perú, Argentina, Brazil, Barbados, Puerto Rico, Latin U.S.A., Trinidad and Venezuela. A total of 376 Masters participated. The event was such a success that it was overwhelmingly decided to continue the championship every two years in a different place. San Juan Puerto Rico was chosen.

2nd. Championship - San Juan, Puerto Rico - 1993

Registered swimmers, 475 from Venezuela, Mexico, Barbados, Argentina, Panamá, Trinidad&Tobago, Brasil, Surinam, Puerto Rico. One of the most prestigious clubs on the island was used as the venue for the competition.

3rd. Championship - Christ Church, Barbados - 1995

Hosted by the Casuarina club, the event had more than 600 registered athletes from Guatemala, Venezuela, Mexico, Bermuda, Trinidad&Tobago, Puerto Rico, Panama, among others. The great innovation was the "open water" swim in one of the beautifully tropical bays.

4th. Championship - Oaxtepec, Mexico - 1997

Organized by "Acuática Nelson Vargas" was held in Oaxtepec, in the state of Morelos (close to Cuernavaca) in September '97. Over 1,200 swimmers from eleven different countries registered. The open water event was held in a crystalline river at the "Las Estacas" resort some 30 minutes away from the main event.

5th. Championship - Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA -1999

The 5th Latin American and Caribbean Masters Swimming Championships saw a total of 1086 Masters from 19 countries assemble at the International Swimming Hall of Fame Aquatic Complex in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. For the first time, the Internet played a prominent role in a LatyCar championship, providing service in all three LatyCar languages (Spanish, English, and Portuguese). Over 380 registrations were received via secure, web-based registration forms complementing conventional registration procedures. Entry confirmation and problem solving as well as the distribution of results took place exclusively via the LatyCar website. An incredible 301 LatyCar records (plus world and many national records) were set over the five days of competition! Rounding out the personal achievements and record setting, were fun-filled intervals of great music, food, dance, sight-seeing, sunbathing, and friendship in this sub-tropical swimmers' Mecca.

6th. Championship - San José, Costa Rica - 2001

After having had the LATyCAR championships hosted by countries in South America, the Caribbean and North America, it was time to have one of the Central American countries to host the “Super Sexto” 2001 LATYCAR, this would compliment on the LATyCAR's goal of Masters development in the region. This was the first experience in which the national Federation (FINA member) was directly in charge of running and organizing the event which proved to be very positive in furthering LatyCar’s learning experience.

LatyCar positively combined both organizations' experiences including having brought in experienced 1999 officiating team from the USA which well complimented their developing Masters program, under the leadership of Irene Gordon.

The "Super Sexto" brought LATyCAR much experience dealing with the Tourism and Sports Ministries as both were recruited in order to have the support on all the necessary facilities and providing the swimmers and family with a fantastic tourism programs.

Besides having brought Costa Rica its largest Masters event ever, LATyCAR made a donation to their swimming community of a complete eight lane and water polo COLORADO TIME SYSTEM which arrived just in time to be used for the Championship.

Sports held: swimming and water polo in San Jose; the open water swim was held on the Pacific side of the country; postal events were also swum prior to the meet, specifically, 1500 mts., the one hour individual and the one hour relays.

In total 700+ athletes from 19 countries participated in the week long competition and over 40 new continental records were established. All relays were held on the last day before the OW, this way athletes had the freedom to visit the city and volcanoes after their early swims. This program innovation was a complete success. Water Polo was played in the evenings with clubs from five countries.

The swimming Championship was won by Caracas Masters from Venezuela. The Italiano-Venezolano Club from Venezuela won the polo tournament. Many excellent results were obtained from our Costarican experience, principally that their local Masters have jumped on our band wagon and are actively pursuing growth in their country, additionally water polo was introduced to the program.

7th. Championship - Barbados - 2003

Several bids were received to host the 2003 LATyCAR Championship. Barbados won over Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic, unfortunately this last site was out of the budgeted figures, as it would also have been an excellent choice.

Once again LATyCAR was organized by the local national federation (FINA member), the Barbados Amateur Swimming Association (BASA).

More than 300 swimmers registered. Teams from 18 countries were represented and over 90 new continental records were established. The 1500 meter Postal event was also swum prior to the meet with more than 20% participation, a new record.

The weather was absolutely beautiful with clear blue skies and strong breeze. The events went as scheduled finishing just after noontime enabling athletes and friends to visit the island throughout the afternoons and evenings.

The Open Water event took place in beautiful Carlisle Bay under spectacular weather conditions only seen in places like Barbados, more than 150 participated.

The meet Referee, Irene Gordon (USA), husband Bob Gordon as well as all the assisting officials once again did a superb job. Their knowledge and experience made it possible to, once again, have a smooth and organized meet in every way. The Championship was conducted in accordance with FINA Rules.

The Awards Dinner was well organized and amply covered by the local press. All individual and team recognitions were publicly handed out. The meet was won by Bramaster team from Brazil .

The AMISTAD-CUBA 2002 Postal events winners were also awarded with beautiful individually custom made Cuba island pendants.

Once again, LATyCAR leaves an example to all the regional Masters athletes about friendship, competitiveness, empathy and personal warmth with new found aquatic rivals, and turned out to be an excellent opportunity to exchange backgrounds, ideas, experiences and knowledge between countries. All were overwhelmed specially by the Barbadian nationals competing, since each one of them did a wonderful job as hosts.

In order to make sure the LATyCAR message gets to all athletes in the continent, all future championships will have appropriate promotion of the event to all Americas Masters swimmers.

Several bids were received for the 2005 LATyCAR, Sao Paulo Brazil being selected as the official venue for that Championship.