The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

WITH the luxury of hosting the event for the first time, the Bahamas Swimming Federation has ratified its biggest team ever – a total of 69 swimmers - to represent the Bahamas at Caribbean Islands Swimming Championships. (See Team Bahamas, 3E)

Scheduled for June 29 to July 5 at the Betty Kelly Kenning Swim Complex, the CISC comes on the heels of the federation’s annual Royal Bank of Canada National Championships scheduled for June 23-26.

Federation president Algernon Cargill said they are very pleased with the team selection and the progress they have made in getting ready to host the biggest swimming event in the country.

“It’s the first time that we are hosting the CISC in the Bahamas and our goal is to win the CISC, so we have put together a balanced team because there are no size limitations for us as the host country,” he said.

“So we picked a team that we know will provide us with some quality swims and will have excellent representation here at home as we try to win the CISC title for the first time.”

The CISC will also serve as the last qualifier in the world for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in August, which means that there are expected to be 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.

Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace, who is expected to compete in her third Olympics, will lead Team Bahamas. She will be swimming three events and will be joined by other Olympic hopefuls, including Joanna Evans, Elvis Burrows and Dustin Tynes.

Andy Knowles will coach the team, comprising of 34 male and 35 females between the ages of 11 and 26. But Cargill said they would have an opportunity to allow all of the local club coaches to be a part of the team by assisting their swimmers. “This is going to be the first time in a long time that we will have the entire group of swimmers from very young to elite senior swimmers competing in the same competition at the same time,” Cargill said.

In the past, the Bahamas has placed second and third, but never has the team been as large as this. The largest to represent the country was about 30 members.

More than 23 countries and over 400 swimmers will be competing at the stadium, which Cargill said is going to be renovated to accommodate the large crowd of competitors and spectators.

“Seating will be installed in the stadium for these games because on any given night we are expecting at least five to 600 swimmers to be on deck,” he said. “We will also be staging for the first time in the Bahamas, an open water swimming championship, a five kilometre race and a 10K race at Arawak Cay.”

With the federation hosting the Carifta Games at the stadium next year, Cargill said this will give 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.