The Bedrock Sports Initiative (BSI) is an organisation founded by Yona Knight-Wisdom with the goal of developing minority sports in Jamaica, primarily focused on diving. The initiative aims address the current lack of access to elite coaching in sports like diving, the need for water safety education, and the absence of world-class sporting facilities in the country.

Through the three core programmes - the YKW Diving Academy, Wise In Water, and Project Montego Bay Sport - BSI aims to empower Jamaican youth, promote water safety, and position Jamaica as a player in global sports tourism.

Representing Jamaica at three Olympic Games - Rio, Tokyo, and Paris - has been the privilege of my life. Over a 12-year international diving career, I made history in 2016 as Jamaica’s first male Olympic diver, the first at the Games in 44 years, and the only Jamaican diver to stand on an international podium. I don’t want to remain as the only one. My dream is to see future Jamaican divers earning medals for the island and inspiring generations to come.

This vision drives the YKW Diving Academy, a charitable venture dedicated to nurturing young talent from grassroots to elite competition, while also developing local coaching expertise. My own journey began in Leeds, England, where I was born and raised, seeking selection to the British pathway in hopes of reaching the Olympics.

A lack of opportunities, however, led my coach to recommend I represent Jamaica and keep my Olympic dream alive. Fortunately, I didn’t have to relocate to Jamaica to enable this. I say fortunately because the island lacks the infrastructure and expertise to support high-performance diving, and without the access I had to British coaching and facilities, my dream would have been unattainable.

Through the charity Wise In Water, I’m focusing on breaking barriers to swimming education in underserved Jamaican communities. Swimming shaped my life, and I owe it to my mother who ensured I learned to swim before starting school.

In England, swimming has been a part of the national curriculum since 1994, guaranteeing that every child leaves primary school knowing how to swim competently and perform a self-rescue. It’s shocking to me that many children in Jamaica don’t have access to this essential life skill. I believe that introducing some form of swimming education into schools would not only increase the number aquatic athletes but also allow children to safely enjoy the island’s oceans, rivers, and waterfalls, without the financial barrier of private lessons.

Project Montego Bay Sport is a for-profit venture designed to position Jamaica as a hub for diverse sports. The facility will include a world-class aquatic centre, an indoor multi-sport arena, and athletic development provisions, aiming to host international competitions and other events, while establishing a talent development pathway for locals to discover their sporting talents.

Looking back at my three Olympics, Jamaica was consistently represented in athletics at the highest level, earning nine gold, seven silver, and eight bronze medals from 68 finals appearances, but what of other sports?

In Rio, we were represented by four athletes in three sports; swimming, diving, and gymnastics. In Tokyo, we grew to six athletes in five sports; swimming, diving, gymnastics, judo, and boxing. In Paris, we were back down to four athletes in three sports; swimming, diving, and judo.

I reached the semi-final on all three occasions, but never made the final. The mercurial Alia Atkinson was the only swimmer to escape the heats, achieving an eighth place finish in her 2016 final. Neither gymnast advanced beyond qualification, though Danusia Francis suffered a serious injury just before competition and had to withdraw, judoka Ashley McKenzie reached the round of 16 in 2024 amidst political uproar regarding selection, and boxer Ricardo Brown earned a bye straight to the round of 16, but lost his only contest in 2021.

In my opinion, the gap comes down to infrastructure. Athletes often leave Jamaica in search of better facilities and coaching to accelerate their careers. With investment in diverse sports provision, we could attract expertise and harness Jamaica’s abundant talent across a wider spectrum of sports.

At the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Jamaica competed in 16 sports, including 13 Olympic disciplines. This proves the interest exists; we just need the right environment to develop athletes to the Olympic standard.

For me, becoming part of Jamaica’s sporting legacy, built by some of the most iconic athletes in history, has been an honour. Now, I want to contribute to that legacy by broadening its scope.

We can’t just rely on the emergence of the next superstar sprinter. I want to help create opportunities to uncover Jamaica’s next homegrown Olympians in diving, swimming, and other underrepresented sports.

Through the Bedrock Sports Initiative, we aim to secure funding and create partnerships to give these sporting initiatives a fighting chance of success. Together, we can profoundly impact Jamaica’s sporting culture, public health, and economic development, one sport at a time.