Harry Stacey

 “I’m not too mad at the performance, although it wasn’t my best. It’s been a learning experience and definitely building blocks for the future.”

The above was the reaction from one of Ghana’s two representatives in swimming at the ongoing Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Harry Stacey.

As a debutant and relatively a new face as far as swimming was concerned in Ghana, not much was required of him.

So when he lined up in the 100m Men Freestyle event in Heat 4, expectation was modest.

Stacey finished seventh with a time of 51.12 seconds, failing to qualify to the semifinals of the event.

As if that was not enough, the former Marlins Swim Club member’s time could notbetter his national record time of 50.57 seconds over the distance.

Naturally, the performance and disappointing outcome appears to have gone with the wind because ‘Fellow’ Ghanaians are becoming indifferent towards the country’s contingents at such sports festivals.

As a beneficiary of one of the two wild cards granted by World Aquatics, FINA, following Ghana’s showing in swimming at the Accra 2023 Africa Games, Stacey was granted an opportunity to more or less dine with the swimming greats.

He represented no threat to any of the medals at stake because his time comes nowhere near the properly qualified swimmers.

As a young lad coming up, he and Ghana should be grateful for the opportunity and not be so shattered about his performance.

Stacey must be guided by the second part of the quote attributed to him that, “It’s been a learning experience and definitely building blocks for the future.”

That perfectly describes his situation, especially when featuring in an event like swimming, dominated by countries such as the USA, Australia, South Africa and others with competitive advantage.

Instead of crying over spilt milk, Stacey should remain focused on improving his performances to record better times. His dream is very possible, but will take a lot of time, sacrifice and dedication to reach there.

The fact that swimming is yet to chalk any major feat as far as international championships are concerned does not mean that no athlete from Ghana can gain global recognition.

Under our own eyes and noses, South Sudan, a country with a dog’s chance in the world of sport is being discussed on major platforms because of the performance exhibited by its basketball team, the Bright Stars.

They convincingly defeated Puerto Rico in the basketball event at the ongoing Games. Prior to that, they faced almighty USA in a preparatory game before the Games kicked off, losing by just a basket.

Clearly, that is an indication that there could be light at the end of the tunnel for the young and upcoming Stacey who would ride at the back of this opportunity to take the swimming world by storm.

 By Andrew Nortey