7 News Belize

The Finest And Fittest At Coast Guard
posted (November 21, 2014)
Yesterday, we showed you day 1 of the Coast Guard's Best Warrior Competition. The tournament is being held for a second year - as an opportunity for the Coast Guard to assess the fitness of its elite members.

Yesterday was all about the fitness test and the 2 mile ocean swim. In today's competition, the teams had to complete a 6 mile run in the morning, and a 4 mile obstacle course called the Coast Guard Medley.

7News was back at the compound during the medley and as the competition officials promised, the level of difficulty was increased. Here's how it looked:

Daniel Ortiz reporting
This evening, each of the squads had to maneuver around a 1-mile course saddled with heavy weights. The purpose of this event, like the others, is to try to complete it as quickly as possible. The clock didn't stop running until the last man finished the course.

They each began by wearing a vest weighing 30 pounds, then, after completing a lap with that, the squad then took up a 40 pound Bergan. By that time, the first lap was already taking its toll.

And by the time the squads came around for the third lap, the effects of the backpacks and vests was clearly visible. That's when they would take on the toughest challenge yet. The team of 8 had to find a way to carry a stretcher with two jerry cans filled to the brim with water. That's an extra 150 pounds, a simulation of an injured comrade in need of emergency transportation.

On the 4th and final lap, the squads had to carry 4 shoulder weights with them, each weighing 25 pounds, the lightest of the burdens, but with all the cumulative load before this lap, it appeared to be the heaviest load that each men had to bear with them all the way to the finishing line.

To top it all off, the final obstacle that the squads had to overcome is a climb up a rope 18 feet into the air. It didn't count unless each climber gave a convincing slap of the verandah at the top. And, the clock didn't stop until each and every man on the team made it all the up, and all the way down.

For the officers' squad, Lt. Monima was the last man who needed to make it up the rope. He demonstrated just how physically demanding the medley challenge was. On his first try, he made it half-way up the rope, but by that time, he was too tired to finish the obstacle. He slid back down the rope, causing his competitors, and team mates to doubt whether not he'd ever make it to the top.

For about 15 minutes, Lt. Monima struggled to get up the rope, and with each failed attempt, he was bringing his team closer to an incomplete for the day. That would mean that all the hard work of his teammates would not earn them any points.

Finally, his team inquired with the competition officials, and after getting, greenlight, they formed a pyramid helping Monima up the rope, so that he could touch the verandah.

Some bystanders said that wasn't fair, since he didn't make it up on his own strength, but no one argued that it was the strong teamwork - which is acceptable in the competition - that allowed him to get to the top.

When the times were finally recorded for the medley course, it revealed that the Fleet Team remained in the lead. They are followed closely by BSAG, and the Seals in third place, the Recruits trailing behind, and the Officers Squad bringing up the rear again.

Their performance today determines the layout of the competition tomorrow.

Lt. Derick Castillo - Training Officer, Coast Guard
"Tomorrow we do the march and shoot. We leave from Boom Bridge, 6:30 we assemble there, 7am in the morning the first team leave from there and the same process continue. The team that will 5th place here today will be the first team leaving from there 7am and every 10 minutes thereafter the other teams follow behind."

Mike Rudon, CH5
"And do what in particular."

Lt. Derick Castillo - Training Officer, Coast Guard
"We will march and then we start off with the Bergan which have 40 pounds in there. Helmet and all that military stiff that have you looking like you are preparing yourself to go to war. They will march with that Bergan and all that weight and then along the way we will meet jerry cans with water in there that you must take a long with you as a team. Along the way you also meet some containers, they will take those also. The stretchers that we have there they will pick those up and take them all the way to the range. When they get to the range, these guys will be extremely exhausted, but we still want them to be able to fight, so after taking all that kit off and place that down, they will be issued an ammunition and they will have to crawl from 250 meter firing point to 200 meter firing point and then engage falling place which will be 200 meters away from them."

And if you're wondering how come the Fleet officers and the recruits are doing better than the Elite Coast Guard Seals, the commanders explained to us today that the potential Coast Guard Seals are chosen from the ranks of the Fleet Officers. Recruit Intake #5, which passes out next week Friday, has also being doing intense physical training for the past 13 weeks to become members of the Coast Guard.

From the BDF, the Belize Special Assignment Group is the most trained unit, and they are considered very close contenders for the championship.

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