The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

The local swimming community continues to set new milestones and can now add its first ever Caribbean Island Swimming Championship title to its resumé.

The Bahamas made good in its first time as hosts of the meet as the 70-member team finished with a total of 1,060 points, nearly 200 points ahead of the second place finish Puerto Rico, who tallied 874 points. Trinidad and Tobago finished third with 770.50 points, Jamaica was fourth with 564 points, while Barbados rounded out the top five with 508 points.

The Bahamas claimed 78 medals en route to the win, including 33 gold, 23 silver and 22 bronze. Puerto finished with 71 medals - 25 gold, 25 sliver and 21 bronze. Trinidad and Tobago won 59 medals - 18 gold, 20 silver and 21 bronze, Jamaica won a total of 46 medals - 14 gold, 21 silver and 11 bronze, while Aruba won 38 medals - 13 gold, 18 silver and seven bronze.

“When the BSF selected this team, we selected qualified swimmers, knowing we were hosting CISC,” Bahamas Swimming Federation President Algernon Cargill said. “All of the teams were amazed with the talent we have here in The Bahamas and I’m not at all surprised that our team performed the way they did. They came out excited and ready to swim in front of the home crowd and it’s going to be like that when we host CARIFTA next year.”

Out of all the stars to emerge for Team Bahamas over the course of the meet, Dustin Tynes made the most impact by swimming an Olympic qualifying time.

Tynes swam to a gold medal and reached the Olympic B cut once again in the 100m Breast to qualify for his first Olympic Games with a time of 1:02.55 seconds. The Ohio State University sophomore initially achieved the B cut last year at the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto Canada when he swam 1:02.49.

Matthew Lowe concluded the competition for Team Bahamas with a gold medal in the 10K Open Water swim at Long Wharf Beach.

Team Bahamas closed out the final day in the pool with standout performances in the 400 Free, 50m Free, 100m Breast and 200m Back.

Rio Olympics bound Joanna Evans continued her string of gold medal performances with first place in the 400m Free in a time of 4:12.47.

Lowe, who also dominated the senior division on the male side,  also won the 400m Free in 4:01.07.

In the 50m Free, Lamar Taylor once again continued his inspiring performance over the course of the meet. Taylor captured another gold medal in a time of 26.52 in the event.

In the 100m Breast, Jamilah Hepburn won her first gold medal of the meet in a time of   1.20.12 in the Girls 11-12.

Izaak Bastian took gold in the Boys 13-14  in a new CISC record of 1:06.24 while Albury and Lilly Higgs finished first and second respectively in the Girls 15-17.

The CISC served as the last qualifier in the world for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in August - the event featured swimmers from all around the world, including India, Nigeria, Korea, Algeria, Mexico, Guatemala, Panama, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and Canada, who are expected to be participating as well to get in their qualifying marks.

More than 23 countries and over 400 swimmers competed at the BKK Aquatic Centre, which added adjustments to accommodate the large crowd of competitors and spectators.

With the federation hosting the Carifta Swimming Championships at the stadium next year, Cargill said CISC gave them the opportunity to ensure that everything is in place with their volunteers and the support they are getting from the government as well as their primary sponsor, BTC.