Qualifying for this year’s Commonwealth Youth Games is a target for many young sportspeople around the world and in the Isle of Man two aspiring young swimmers are no different.

Joel Watterson and Kazia Whittaker, both members of Isle of Man Swimming Club (IOMSC), are hoping to be selected as part of the team to represent the island July’s event in the Bahamas.

Paysafe is supporting swimmers Joel and Kazia in their quest by offering financial support to help them make trips to meetings off-island to gain experience at the levels required to make sure that, if selected, they can do the Isle of Man and its swimming community proud.

The global payments provider, which is registered in the Isle of Man and trades on the London Stock Exchange’s FTSE 250 Index, has recently opened a new office on Victoria Street, Douglas, extending its presence in the island where it has been based since 2003.

’Our swimmers train very hard many times a week but it is vital that they get to race off-island in higher level meets to develop their race skills and technique,’ commented IOMSC’s head coach Lee Holland. ’Paysafe’s support for these swimmers, along with the work we are doing on a day-to-day basis, should ensure that, if selected, they arrive at the Commonwealth Youth Games ready to perform.’

Paysafe president and chief executive Joel Leonoff said: ’Supporting emerging top talent is very important to us at Paysafe and we are therefore delighted to be helping Joel and Kazia as they focus on achieving their goal to represent the island on a global stage.’

Paysafe merchant services director John Tottenham attended the recent IoM championships to meet the swimmers and picked a good night to attend as Joel and Kazia became Manx champions in the 100m freestyle and 50m butterfly respectively.