The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

The delayed 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, has been a momentous experience for Grand Bahamian swimmer Joanna Evans.

Still in a festive mood after celebrating her 24th birthday on Sunday when she competed in her signature event in the 400m freestyle, Evans closed the chapter on her second straight Olympics as she competed in her final event in the women’s 200m freestyle.

On Monday at the Tokyo Aquatic Centre, Evans placed 18th overall as she touched the wall in one minute and 58.40 seconds, which was shy of her national record of 1:58.03 she set at the Central American and Caribbean Games in Barranquilla, Colombia on July 21, 2018.

“The swim was decent,” Evans said. “It’s always an honour to represent the Bahamas and give people something to root for.”

Everyone was rooting for Evans to at least advance to the semi-finals, but she fell shy by two spots after she came through in seventh place in the third of four heats of the preliminaries. The 16th and final qualifying spot was 1:58.33 by Valeriia Salamatina of Roc, who finished just ahead of Evans in sixth place in their heat. The top qualifier was American Kathleen Ledecky in 1:55.28.

Going into her race, Evans posted splits of 27.80 in her first 50m; 29.50 for 57.30 at 100m; 30.61 for 1:27.91 for 150m and 30.49 in the final 50.

For the University of Texas at Austin graduate, her plan, even as she celebrated her birthday, was to “just swim and try to recover for my next race.”

Now that her two races are over and done with and her second Olympic experience has come to a close, Evans said the plan is for her to “rest” before the International Swimming League season gets underway.

The ISL is an annual professional swimming league that was established in 2019. It features a team-based competition format with fast-paced race sessions. Season three regular season is expected to run from August 26 to September 30 in Naples, Italy.

While she is now done at the Olympics, today, Izaak Bastian will complete his debut account at the games when he competes in the men’s 200m breaststroke.

The 20-year-old Florida State University student is coming off an eighth place finish in his heat of the 100m breaststroke on Saturday for 40th place overall.

The remainder of Team Bahamas’ delegation will begin competing on Friday when the track and field competition gets underway at the Olympic Stadium where the opening ceremony took place on Friday with Evans and high jumper Donald Thomas serving as the co-flag bearers for the first time it was done in the history of the games. In the past, only one competitor carried the flag.

• CORRECTION: In an earlier version of this story, we stated that Joanna Evans' time was a new national record – this is not the case and has been corrected.