Nineteen pro-cards will be up for grabs at the Darcy Beckles Diamond Cup pro qualifier on June 6.
So said CAC president Giovani Arnez during the ABC Fitness Studios/Protex Inter-Gym Fitness Competition at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre on Saturday.
“We will be giving away 19 pro-cards so if those athletes have the potential to have a pro-card they will get it. The winners will automatically get a pro-card and they can come over in the night to compete with the pro-athletes. If they have [the potential] we will give number one, two and three a pro-card,” he said.
The amateurs will compete at 10 in the morning while the pros will take the stage at 7 p.m.
However, the availability of those cards will not see the standard compromised.
“At my show last year I had 24 pro-cards to give away but we had athletes that didn’t have the capacity to earn the pro-cards so we only gave away 14. We have to continue to keep the pro-card status a bit high,” he said.
The Darcy Beckles Classic which has been around for the past 11 years but will now be replaced by the Diamond Pro Cup which an elite pro-show which falls under the International Federation of Bodybuilding (IFFB).
It will see competitors from St Maarten, Aruba, Mexico and many others while CAC will be held in Puerto Rico.
“I had the same competition last year in Aruba and I had 35 countries. I had Russia, Greece and people from all over the world. There are about 199 member countries. Having such a big competition in our region – in Barbados – is great. People were saying we don’t have much competition in the Caribbean and now we have,” he told THE NATION.
Arnez pointed out though it was a small show he identified quality athletes who could advance to big stages such as the CAC Championships and believed it was good for Barbados to host such shows to get young men off the street and people leading healthier lives in general.
“I noticed not only here in Barbados but all over the world people are more concerned about their lifestyle and about getting into shape and seeing themself looking better in their clothes so what they do is look for a gym. There are lots of gyms opening every year.
“I’m very glad Roger Boyce and Dr [Alfred] Sparman took the challenge to organise such a big championship here in Barbados and we are giving away US$24 000 dollars in those five categories; body building, men’s physique, bikini fitness, bikini wellness and figure”.
The athletes who win in these categories will accumulate points at the end of the year.
The Aruban said he was pleased with the introduction of the bikini wellness category since it gave thicker women space to compete.
“That category first started in Brazil because in Brazil you have those carnival girls with big legs and so on. After that we saw that it was growing and now it’s unstoppable. Wellness is going very fast just like the bikini and men’s physique.
For those girls it is very difficult to go down a size and compete in bikini fitness. They will never get into that category so that’s why we opened this one,” said Arnez. (RG)
