The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas Swimming Federation (BSF) could for the first time have a 4 x 100 freestyle relay team qualified for the 2012 Olympic Games.

The team of Arianna Vanderpoool-Wallace, Alana Dillette, Alicia Lightbourne and Ariel Weech posted the 16th fastest time in the world in their bid to secure one of the four remaining spots for the London Olympics in August.

In Montreal, Canada, over the weekend, the swimming quartet won the Canadian Olympic Swimming trials with a new Bahamas record when they took the final in three minutes and 47.4 seconds, which is listed as the 16th best time in the world.

Vanderpool-Wallace, who also won two individual events, opened with a split of 54.53, Dillette followed in 58.10, while Lightbourne swum 57.93 and Weech anchored in 56.86 as they surpassed the previous national record of 3:48.34 that was set by Dillette, Vanderpool-Wallace and sisters Teisha and Alicia Lightbourne in Rome, Italy in July, 2009.

The Blue Waves Swim Club of Canada came in second in 3:48.97.

In order to qualify, the Bahamas will have to post one of the top 16 times in the world. In fact, they are just shooting for one of four remaining spots as the first 12 teams already qualified in the Shanghai World Swimming Championships last July.

The next four spots will be offered to teams who swim the next four fastest times at FINA- sanctioned qualifying events and within the qualification time period.

"They did excellent," said BSF president Algernon Cargill. "If they can continue this performance, they can definitely compete in the Olympics."

The Bahamas has until May 31 to hold onto their position or move up the ladder in order to secure a spot in the lanes at the Olympics.

Earning

In preparation for earning their berth, the Bahamas Olympic Committee is throwing their support behind the BSF and the relay team by providing much-needed funding to help the athletes attend and compete at this competition.

The BSF is now preparing the team to compete in another Olympic qualifier in Charlotte in two weeks. Then they will compete in the final qualifier in Auburn before they come home for the BSF Nationals.

Vanderpool-Wallace, meanwhile, swum 54.50 to win the B final of the women's 100m free. The performance came after she lowered her national record to 54.28 to produce the fastest time in the preliminaries. Her previous record was 54.46 that set in Shanghai, China, last June. She wasn't eligible for the A final because she isn't Canadian. However, her time was faster than the winning time of 54.73 by Julia Wilkinson in the A final.

Vanderpool-Wallace closed out the meet Sunday night by winning her second individual event in her specialty in the 50 free. She did 24.98 to take the B final ahead of team-mate Weech, who was seventh in 26.44.

While Vanderpool-Wallace's time once again was better than the Canadian A final of 25.03 by Victoria Poon, it was just off her national record of 24.79 in Shanghai.