Central American Games in Panama

The Central American Games will be held next month and Panama has most of the events. El Salvador and Guatemala have some events and opening ceremonies will happen in each country. However, track and field, swimming and a lot else is going to happen in Panama. If you are thinking that this is a "ho hum" local event come to see the long jump champion from the Beijing Games, Irving Saladino compete or go to the Eileen Coparropa National Pool to see the likes of NCAA Division I swimmer Edgar Crespo from Texas Christian (and La Salle Catholic High School in Panama City) compete in the breast stroke and butterfly. The games in Panama are from April 9 to 18. Saladino is nicknamed "the kangaroo" and is a Panamanian national hero. His smile has favored a lot of TV ads making his face familiar. Come to see him jump and you will see the man most favored to break the 19 year old world record in the long jump.

 Panamanian swimmer, Edgar Crespo, is a sophomore at Texas Christian University (TCU) in Texas. Mr. Crespo swims the breast stroke and butterfly and is currently swimming in the NCAA Division I championships in Columbus, Ohio. This Panama City native has competed in the Beijing Olympics, world championships, the Pan-American Games, and the South American Games. Mr. Crespo, a graduate of La Salle High School, will be coming home in April to compete for Panama in the Central American Games. According to the TCU “Gofrogs.com” sports web site Crespo set a personal best time in the 200 meter breast stroke with a time of 2:00.52 competing in the 2010 Mountain West Conference Championships on March 20. The Central American Games will take place in Panama from April 9 to 18 with swimming at the Eileen Coparropa National Pool.

The original dates of March 4 to 14 were postponed to allow Panama to finalize preparations. Opening ceremonies will take place in each of the three hosting nations. A special attraction in Panama will be participation by Irving Saladino, the Olympic long jump gold medalist from the Beijing games.

Details were being settled as the organizing committee for the 9th Central American Games met recently. Registration, logistics, lodging, and food were all on the agenda as well the specifics of each sport competition. So far more than 559 athletes from Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama are signed up for the games in Panama. More than 1,500 athletes (992 men and 537 women) will take part in events throughout the three nations.

According to the president of the organizing committee, Edwin Cabrera, Panama has not hosted an athletic event of this magnitude for forty years. Events will take place at the following locations:

•    Rommel Fernandes stadium
•    Roberto Duran gym
•    Rod Carew stadium
•    Chinese Panamanian gym
•    Yuyin Luzcando fitness center
•    La Salla school gym
•    José Remón Cantera gym
•    Eileen Coparropa pool
•    Gyms 1 and 2 at the University of Panama
•    Santa Maria La Antigua University
•    Kiwanas sports facility
•    Castilla de Oro equestrian club
•    The City of Knowledge