A wise woman once said: if you have nothing good to say, then say nothing. That was the first thought that I uttered when I read Anthony Milne's letter on George Bovell's 50m swim (Sunday Express, August 5).

As a born and bred Trinbagonian, I know it to be true that you can never please the people of this nation, but this boggles the mind on so many levels.

Mr Milne has severely insulted the good, learned people hailing from Glencoe. George Bovell had a fantastic swim in the 50m final. It must be understandably heartbreaking, or in Trini circles "bad-lucky'', for Bovell to lose a race by mere tenths of a second. But such is the nature of competitive sport; events are won and lost by fractions of seconds and millimeters.

There are many factors that lead to a first place or a seventh place swim and only an ignoramus would believe that Bovell should be written off and give up competitive swimming.

Bovell is absolutely right when he stated that sport is much like life. It has its ups and downs and much like life, one must hold fast to discipline, hard-work and commitment in order to get the best results in everything you do.

To say to the nation that Bovell should move on from swimming because of a single "failure" is absurd. So my fellow Trinidadians and Tobagonians, when you fail, you do not have to take your own life. You must learn from your mistakes and strive for betterment.

The world's most successful people did not gain success by avoiding trial and error. The traits they all share are discipline and perseverance, traits I am sure that George Bovell has in great abundance.

R Dopson

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