The Gambin factor

The recent performances of Ryan Gambin in the European Championships in Eindhoven have sparked renewed local interest in the sport. But the way ahead is fraught with uncertainties.

Fresh from his fine showing in the European Championships in Eindhoven, where he set a posse of new national records and also qualified for the 50 metres butterfly 'B' category for the Beijing Olympic Games this August, Ryan Gambin, the Maltese-Australian swimmer, must surely be elated at having reached his preliminary targets since his arrival in Malta last January.

The news that he will be here to represent Malta in the 2009 GSSE was indeed very welcome as Gambin will be part and parcel of the island's swimming fraternity and no doubt in the forefront as an ambassador in this sport.

The Australia-based swimmer's pedigree in his adopted land speaks volumes of this lad's ability in this sports discipline.

Consistently among the best sprinters in a variety of strokes when competing in several state and national championships in that Great South Island, renowned for its excellence in world swimming standards, Gambin, 22, has discovered a fresh impetus to improve his levels by representing Malta on a global scale.

When speaking in February about his plans after the Maltese Olympic Committee had asked him to represent the country, the tall, broad-shouldered swimmer, who had also expressed a burning desire to turn out in Maltese colours, said he was banking on improving his personal best times in three of the four strokes for the one and two-lap races and then represent Malta, hopefully with more than a modicum of success.

Since that time he has recorded national records of 24.81, 26.78 and 23.97 seconds in the 50m butterfly, backstroke and freestyle respectively and 54.33 in the 100m butterfly, all in Eindhoven. The latter performance has also promoted him to the 'B' qualifying pool of swimmers for Beijing.

Granted that such a time in the 100m butterfly will have to be improved abundantly if Gambin has to entertain hopes of qualifying for a subsequent round (excellence in this event demands a time of around 51 seconds), this will not deter him from working harder to reach higher levels and perhaps finish in a satisfactory place in the final pecking order in Beijing. Such is the standard of world swimming!

Beyond this, one would have to analyse what impact will the 'recruitment' of Gambin have on the homebred swimmers who have been working so hard to improve their performances and break national records only to see them shattered beyond any point of retrieval, at least for the foreseeable future.

Moreover, once there is a qualifier for a global event they know that the opportunity they might have of flying their country's flag on a token basis will be aborted.

Will this 'newcomer', serve as an incentive for his colleagues while he is training with them for a long period?

How far can they be pushed towards bettering their personal PBs, never mind not being able to get sufficiently close to his new national records within reasonable time?

The crop of locally-nursed swimmers will have to shed off any possible disillusionment in this regard if the newly-found spirit of endeavour in this sport is to be maintained.

The initiative of the MOC when making possible the presence of this quality swimmer in Malta to work alongside the homegrown talent for an extended period of time, and not just 'import' him specifically to represent our country, is to be lauded.

But will the other swimmers be sacrificed on the altar of expediency?

One might argue that the way ahead is fraught with uncertainties of this sort in a sport which has taken a long time to lift off in our country and which only recently has started to make some inroads, albeit on a local scale.

Making a quantum leap when an athlete of Maltese stock is unearthed and brought over to represent our country successfully requires not only courage but a foresight insofar as keeping alive the enthusiasm of the local talent is concerned, given the prevailing situation.

What will the Gambin factor have in store as regards the continued progress of swimming in our country?

Only time will tell.