Amid the current national sport debate, veteran swimmer Chris Smith has thrown his marbles into the ring.

"Why not make it swimming," he suggested yesterday.

After all, he argued, swimming was the best sport to enable athletes to remain in touch with their youth.

And taking a quick glance at the 71-year-old reigning Latin American Caribbean Masters champion, it would be difficult to disagree.

"I find that there are lots of 50, 60 and 70-year-olds here who could benefit greatly from swimming," said Smith. "People just don't realise the benefits of swimming.

"Clearly swimming is the best sport for people as they age. You can only run, play soccer and cricket for so long but then really there's only swimming left.

"If you really want to stay healthy then swimming is one of the best sports to do all through your life and people just don't seem to realise that here compared to other countries."

Smith took issue with the current state of the sport in Bermuda.

"It's totally pathetic. We make a lot of noise about it but Bermuda could be so much further ahead," he said. "We don't have a pool. You can't call those things (swimming facilities at both Saltus and Warwick Academy schools) pools.

"We also lack the organisation and compared to the other Caribbean islands, Bermuda is really pathetic."

Smith is an official senior referee in the sport and presently sits on the Canadian Board of Officials and is also vice president for both the Latin American Caribbean Masters (Laty Car) and Masters Swimming Association of Canada. He currently holds two records in the Masters division of the Laty Car championships which are held annually.

He added: "I am 71 years and I am in the top ten swimmers in the world in my age group and I am a Bermudian. But I can't swim here because there's no proper facilities, there's no coaches and there is no proper training. So I live most of the time in Toronto and part of the time in Barbados where they have a wonderful facility. And Barbados has nowhere near the money that Bermuda has."

However, Smith said he's more interested in the benefits swimming has to offer as opposed to dwelling, at length, over the negative aspects of the sport on local shores.

"Swimming has so many benefits and I just feel that we are not doing enough to promote the sport here," he said. "Studies show that swimming is very healthy yet it just seems people don't take heed here.

"All the guys I went to school with are in bad shape. The ones who are still alive have all sorts of problems. Why? Because nobody encouraged them to take up swimming. So I want to do my part by encouraging people to become more involved."

Smith will take to the waters of Harrington Sound on Sunday for the annual Around the Sound Race.