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Monday, July 6, 2009

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Bahamas swim team returns with 10 medals By DAHALIA SMITH ~ NG Sports Reporter ~ dahalia@nasguard.com: A 14-member swim team representing The Bahamas at the Central American and Caribbean Confederation (CCCAN) Championships in Barquisimeto, Venezuela returns home tonight with a 10-medal haul and a 10th finish out of 29 countries. Team Bahamas accumulated 142 points (excluding the 10th medal) at the Venezuelan event, which was won by the host country, and used as a 2010 Olympic Youth Games qualifier. Finishing one spot higher than The Bahamas was Cuba with 17 medals and 159 points and Barbados was eighth with 16 medals and 163 points. On Day One, three medals were won. Ariel Weech won the bronze in the 15-17 girls 50 meters (m) backstroke in a time of 31.98 seconds, Laura Morley took the silver in the 11-12 girls 200m breaststroke in time of 2:56.92 and Dustin Tynes won a silver medal in the 11-12 boys 200m breaststroke in a time of 2:41.62. On the second day of action, Taryn Smith won the country's first gold medal in the 11-12 girls 50m butterfly in a time of 30.44 seconds. Also, Tynes won his second medal, bronze, in the 200m Individual Medley (IM) event in a time of 2:30.18. Day Three say Morley win another medal, bronze in the 50m breaststroke in a time of 37.73 seconds. Evante Gibson, in the 13-14 boys 50m breaststroke, stopped the clock at 32.22 seconds for a bronze medal while Matthew Lowe, in the same division, took the bronze in the 1500m freestyle in a time of 17:19.82. On Day Four, Smith added to her collection of medals with a silver in the 100m butterfly in a time of 1:07.97. Tynes was the sole Bahamian on the medal podium on Day Five, winning the country's second gold, this one coming in the 100m breaststroke in a time of 1:12.26. Bahamas Swimming Federation (BSF) President Algernon Cargill noted that the team's performance, from last year to this year, significantly improved. "CCCAN is the highest level age group championship in the Americas region and our team's qualifying standard is also very difficult. In fact, fewer than five percent of eligible registered swimmers achieved the qualifying standard," he said. "This speaks to the level of regional competition and the fact that we do have many young swimmers who are swimming at this high level. Therefore, our team's significant performance is not measured in terms of the medals won, but firstly, in the number of qualifiers, and secondly, whether or not these swimmers did their best times," he added. Cargill further noted that the 2009 team was "somewhat hampered" with CCCAN coming immediately on the heels of the BSF National Swimming Championships. The RBC Nationals ended on Saturday, and 6:30 a.m. the following morning, the swim team was headed to Venezuela. "There was literally no rest. Notwithstanding, in terms of medals and best swims alone, I think our team had an excellent performance, in terms of the swimmers competing at a high level, and secondly, by the fact that the majority of the swimmers made finals and many won medals," he said. "The highlight, of course, are Taryn Smith's gold medal swim in the 11-12 girls 50m butterfly, Dustin Tynes' gold medal swim in the 11-12 boys 100m breast, and Matthew Lowe's bronze medal swim in the 13-14 boys 1500m freestyle. These are outstanding because a gold medal is simply that, a first place performance, but Matthew's swim speaks to the future of where we want our program to move in terms of developing long distance medal swimmers. "In fact, this is only the third medal won in an international meet in the 1500m by a male swimmer since 2003, and Matthew won two of these, one at CARIFTA this year, and of course the CCCAN medal. Distance swimming is particularly important because it sets the base for competing in the sprints and middle distance events," he added. In related news, a five member senior national team is expected to compete at the FINA World Championships, from July 18 - August 2 in Rome, Italy. Making up the team are sisters Teisha and Alicia Lightbourne and 2008 Olympians Alana Dillette, Ariana Vanderpool-Wallace and Vereance Burrows. Burrows is the only male on the team. The four women are expected to compete in two relay events, along with their individual events. Dillette is expected to compete in the 50 and 100m backstroke and the 50 and 100m butterfly events, and Vanderpool-Wallace will represent the country in the 50 and 100m freestyle and the 100m butterfly events. Alicia Lightbourne will focus on the 50 and 100m breaststroke and her sister Teisha is expected to swim in the 50 and 100m freestyle events. Burrows is expected to compete in the 50 and 100m freestyle and the 50 and 100m butterfly events. Monday, July 6, 2009