March 05th 2011
Siona Huxley: Story of a Champion
By Kendell “Scady” Eugene

A champion is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition. A champion is also one who has defeated or surpassed all rivals in a competition, especially in sports. Each medium I used gave me the same meaning of our four times Junior Sportswoman of the Year award winner Siona Huxley. “It feels good to know that I am being recognized and it is even a greater feeling to share it with the Junior Sportsman”. That was her answer when we asked her how she felt winning the award for the fourth consecutive time. A student of the International School, Siona has won close to three hundred medals, sixty-six trophies and currently holds four records two of them at a national level. Her sport, swimming has taken her all over the world, Caribbean, Europe, Cuba, The Americas, Australlia, and that is no exaggeration.
Siona started swimming when she took part in a life saving course. She was encouraged by her parents to try out various sports which included skiing, horse riding and tennis but she decided to stick to swimming. That came as no surprise after learning that she had been swimming from as far back as she can remember. Her competitive years however didn’t start until 2003.
As it is with any sport one must have a certain amount of dedication and sacrifices must be made if you want to be at your best. Siona, from the get go knew where she wanted to be in the sport and that is at number one. She told us that her biggest competitor when she first started swimming was Sarah Georges. They trained together and Siona had set her levels to that of Sarah’s. It wasn’t long before such standards would pay-off because in a 50 back race that Sarah and Siona were both part of, Siona would enjoy the top spot of first place. According to her that was one of the greatest feelings and accomplishments for her.

Juggling school and swimming, Siona admits is another challenge she faces waking up early every morning for a three day 5am – 7am training. She also has gym on afternoons for two days and has plans to start Yoga soon. Tiring it maybe to some but she says she loves it since it keeps her organized and disciplined. She believes that everyone young person should have or at least make time for a sport. According to her not only does it help keep one organized, but it is important for self development and one’s health especially at a young age. In her final year of high school at the International School, she has taken a keen interest in the sciences and has plans to further her education at the university level but swimming will not be left out.
She also has her eyes set on the Olympics. Her coach has already up-graded her training significantly in preparation for the games and Siona also has plans to attend a few training camps as part of her preparation. While she admits her love for swimming, she isn’t going to make it her number one life support. Her academics is just as important and has told us that she will want to have something to fall back on later on in life.
We gave you a medal and record count earlier and one would think she would be satisfied with just what she had, but surprise, surprise she is not. Siona told us that her best, she is far from and to her, the best is how far she wants to take it. Right now her ultimate goal is to create history in St. Lucia and win a gold medal at the Olympic Games.

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