The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

While the current stars made their presence felt, the Bahamas Swimming Federation got a good glimpse of the future as the 2014 Royal Bank of Canada National Swimming Championships was held at the Betty Kelly Kenning Swim Complex over the weekend.

Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace, Vereance Burrows, Ariel Weech and McKayla Lightbourn were among the elite swimmers who came home and performed exceptionally well. They were joined by current stars like Joanna Evans and Dustin Tynes.

But one of the stars to watch in the future was eight-year-old Nigel Forbes from the Freeport Aquatic Club, who dominated the boys 8-and-under division, winning all eight of the individual events he competed in with record-breaking performances.

His list of accomplishments came in the 200 metres individual medley in two minutes and 51.11 second; 200 free in 2:31.83; 50 breast in 40.45; 100m free in 1:09.25; 50 fly in 33.55; 50 back in 38.16 and 50m free in 30.56

“It was good. I expected to swim very well,” said the Grand Bahama Seventh-Day Academy student, who was going to Mario’s Bowling to celebrate. “I enjoyed the 50 free the most because last year Marvin (Johnson of the Blue Marlins) beat me and this year I beat him back.”

A total of 49 records were erased during the course of the four days of competition as Swift Swimming emerged victorious as the overall champions for the fourth consecutive year. This time, it wasn’t even close as Swift accumulated a total of 1,809 points, almost 1,000 points ahead of arch rival Barracuda Swim Club, who had 839.50. The Alpha Aquatics Swim Club was third with 684.50.

“I didn’t expect to win by that much,” said Swift’s head coach Andy Knowles. “I knew we had a really good shot at winning. The Barracuda did a good job of trying to dethrone us, but we loaded up some of our kids in the 13-and-up to swim in just about every race.

“I think that was more of an advantage for us because we’re a lot stronger in the 13-and-up, so it ended up allowing us to get even more points as we doubled up in those age group categories.”

Vanderpool-Wallace, preparing to head the Bahamas’ five-member team to the Commonwealth Games next month in Glasgow, Scotland, left her mark on the championships for Swift Swimming with three record-breaking performances in the girls 15-and-over 100m fly in 1:02.48; 50m fly in 26.71 and on her specialty in the 50m free in 25.40.

“This meet was just a tuner up for me going into Glasgow. I was trying to work on the little things that I need to work on going into the meet,” she said. “Based on all of the activities that was going on, I was pleased with the times, but I need to be faster for Commonwealth if I plan to achieve my goal, which is to get on the podium.”

Representing the Freeport Aquatic Club, Burrows won all of the events he competed in, except for the 100m free in which he was beaten by Amando Moss of the Sea Bees Swim Club in 52.51 compared to Burrows’ 54.06. Burrows, however, took the 100m fly (56.86); 50m fly (25.41) and the 50m free (23.90), avenging his loss to Moss, who got second (24.11).

“I came to this meet a little tired. I knew there was going to be a lot of competition at this meet. The guys here peaked for this meet and I obviously didn’t, so it levelled the playing field,” Burrows said. “It gives me a reminder that I need to keep running and they need to keep chasing.”

Another outstanding performance from the future stars came from Victoria Strapp of the Alpha Aquatic, who posted three record breaking performances in the girls 11-12 100m back (1:13.19); 200m back (2:39.54) and 50m back (33.48).

“I felt pretty good about my performance,” said Strapp, a 13-year-old student of St Andrew’s. “There were a couple of surprises, but overall I was pleased. I think my 100 back stroke was very good. I almost got disqualified in the 50m back, but I was glad I didn’t.”

Federation president Algernon Cargill said the championships turned out to be one of the most competitive with the amount of entries and record-breaking swims posted.

“We want to take note of the outstanding swim of Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace in the 50m free and 50m fly where she qualified again for the Commonwealth Games and the CAC Games. These are two meets she is focusing on this year and she will be joined by Ariel Weech, Vereance Burrows, Joanna Evans and Dustin Tynes.

“So overall, we feel that the performances in the meet speaks about our overall dedication of our executives and the commitment of our swimmers. I am also very pleased with all of the swimmers who qualified for the Caribbean Islands Swimming Championships.”

The 30-member team is expected to leave town this week for Barbados where Cargill said they hope to continue on the success achieved at the CARIFTA Games which the Bahamas won the title for the first time this year.

“We just came off the first victory for CARIFTA and just about all of the swimmers are still eligible to compete next year, which tells us that with corporate support and the support of our swimming community, we will be back to go to Barbados and defend our title in 2015.”

At the end of the meet, the following athletes were awarded with the overall and runners-up high point trophies in their respective age groups:

Girls 8-and-under - Abayomi Brown, Freeport Aquatic, 61; Marissa Albury, Swift Swimming, 47

Boys 8-and-under - Nigel Forbes, Freeport Aquatic, 63; Marvin Johnson, Blue Marlins, 49

Girls 9-10 - Mandia Roberts, Barracuda, 61; Madison Mortimer, Team Orca, 55

Boys 9-10 - Lamar Taylor, Freeport Aquatic, 78; Roman Pinder, Abaco Swim Club, 67

Girls 11-12 - Amber Pinder, Barracuda, 77; Tenniya Martin, Swift Swimming, 75

Boys 11-12 - Samuel Gibson, Barracuda, 81; Darren Laing, Swift Swimming, 63

Girls 13-14 - Albury Higgs, Swift Swimming, 88; Lilly Higgs, Swift Swimming, 70

Boys 13-14 - Alec Sands, Swift Swimming, 86; Miller Albury, Alpha Aquatics, 79

Girls 15-and-over - Joanna Evans, Swift Swimming, 81; Ariel Weech, Alpha Aquatic, 55

Boys 15-and-over - Anibal Herandez Valdes, Swift Swimming, 48; Gershwin Greene, Barracuda, 40