St Andrew’s College had 31 athletes and coaches in Bermuda for the Remembrance Day holiday weekend.

A team of 13 swimmers and two coaches from St Andrew’s used the Bermuda Tourism Authority-National Sports Centre (BTA-NSC) sports tourism partnership, which, for another shoulder season, is motivating teams to come to the island to use our world-class training facilities.

In addition to the swimmers, a team of 14 football players and two coaches tagged along to train and play exhibition games here.

For the football team, the trip to Bermuda is described as a reward for a successful season back home, but the swimmers are tuning up for their season of competition, which begins this week.

“Our goals are to review technical skills for all competitive strokes, hop in for some competitive racing and build on team work and endurance,” said Christine McCue, St Andrew’s head swimming coach. “To be able to do this in the Saltus pool and at the new National Training Centre is a real privilege.”

The BTA-NSC agreement allows visiting teams to use NSC training facilities at little or no cost because tourism officials pick up the tab if the team provides an adequate economic impact for the Island. This strategy has helped usher in a wave of teams for swimming, lacrosse, rugby and other sports.

The tourism shoulder season is considered the period between November and March. The BTA has a sports tourism strategy during that time to encourage athletes in cold climates to train in Bermuda where the temperatures are moderate and more conducive to outdoor activity.

St Andrew’s and Saltus are fellow institutions in the Canadian Accredited Independent Schools system. The two college preparatory schools became linked about 12 years ago.

The St Andrew’s athletes and coaches arrived in Bermuda November 11 and will depart today.