(Gwangju Swimming) Canadian-born swimmer for St. Kitts and Nevis enjoys 'amazing' experience in S. Korea

GWANGJU, July 25 (Yonhap) -- Born in Canada but representing St. Kitts and Nevis in swimming, Jennifer Harding-Marlin has been inspired by watching other athletes during the world championships in South Korea. Though she finished well out of contention in her two races at the FINA World Championships in Gwangju, Harding-Marlin wouldn't have it any other way. This is the first international competition for Harding-Marlin wearing the St. Kitts and Nevis flag, and the country has never had a swimmer in the biennial event until Harding-Marlin. "It's been amazing," she told Yonhap News Agency after completing her preliminary in the women's 100m freestyle Thursday at Nambu University Municipal Aquatics Center. "I'm taking advantage of watching different sports, as well as a lot of swimming. Just meeting a lot of the other athletes has been really inspiring." Harding-Marlin was born in Hatley, Quebec, and swam for McGill University in Montreal. She moved to the tiny Caribbean island in 2013 and decided she wanted to build her career there. She is a lawyer specializing in citizenship passport by investment at her own law firm, JH Marlin. Working full-time makes it "a little bit difficult" for Harding-Marlin to train. That there is no pool in the country doesn't help, so she trains by swimming in the ocean. She said she's only been training in a pool for the past two weeks. "I had to go to a qualifying competition beforehand. I attended a meet in Barbados. Because there were no swimmers in St. Kitts and Nevis, I was selected," she said. "The process has been a little bit difficult because we don't have a swimming pool." She has had some difficulties in the competition here too. On Wednesday, she finished 41st out of 48 in the 50m backstroke heats in 34.08. In Thursday's 100m freestyle heats, she finished 85th among 93 with a time of 1:08.05. "It's a learning process," she said. "And it can only get better from here." jeeho@yna.co.kr (END)