The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

FOR the third consecutive year, Swift Swimming has hosted its Open Water Swim in Palm Cay, Yamacraw.

And while DeVante Carey got to repeat as the overall male winner of the 1.5 kilometre race, Simone Bellot captured the female category in her first attempt on Saturday.

Bellot, a 14-year-old 10th grader at St John’s College representing the Dolphins Swim Club, said it was much better than she had anticipated. She took the tape in 31 minutes, 54.78 seconds.

“Going out was a little hard. It was a little rocky,” Bellot said. “The waves were really pushing me the other way. Going to the second buoy was a little better because I was actually swimming with the current.

“But coming back was probably the longest stretch, but overall it was pretty good. I didn’t have that much competition, but those who were here, they really made me swim harder. I didn’t want to lose to any of them.”

Carey, of the host Swift Swimming, said after starting his winning streak last year after taking fourth the first year he competed, he wanted to make sure that he didn’t get dethroned.

“It feels good. I came here knowing that I was going to win,” said Carey, the winner in 25:18.40. “Also, the water was rather calm this morning, so it was better than last year. “Going out was good, going across the waves were pushing you. It was behind you, so it was pushing you making you go faster. That was when I used my opportunity to go faster. Then coming back, you had the waves in your face, so it was a little rough coming back.”

Carey, 14, admitted that he got a little bit of competition from Jacob Roach going through the first two buoys before he managed to break away going to the finish line.

As a Queen’s College 10th grader, Carey said he wants to improve on the success his older brother Dionisio Carey had in the pool. But he was quick to point out that if the two lined up in the open water, the younger Carey would prevail.

“He never swum open water, so I would probably beat him if he swims it,” DeVante Carey said.

In the girls’ 5K race, Giovanna Eneas pulled off the win in 1:24.15.09.

“I’m pretty proud of myself. I wasn’t expecting to be the first girl, but it was fun and hard at the same time,” she said. “The first lap was fine, the second lap I was getting tired, but on the third lap, I just kept pushing myself and telling myself that I could do it and I kept going and I did my best.”

The 13-year-old eighth grader at Queen’s College said she’s happy that her Dolphins’ coach and father Geoffery Eneas encouraged her to compete in the event.

Tristan Russell of Swift won the boys 5K race in 1:15:23.17. “It feels pretty good, but it was a little tiring,” said Russell, who improved on his seventh place when he swum for the first time. “It was a lot more calmer and I did a lot more training and put in my time and effort into it.

The 14-year-old eighth grader at St Andrew’s said the competition wasn’t as intense as last year, but he had to be ready for the competition because there was still a lot of fast competitors entered.

Also competing for the first time, Laila Burrows of Swift captured the shorter 800m swim for girls 10-and-under in 14:19.44.

“I’m really proud of what I did and I really think that my practices paid off,” said Burrows, an 11-year-old sixth grader at Kingsway Academy.

“Going down in my first lap, the waves were not as bad as the second one, but I still pushed through it and I did my best. My coaches wanted me to do it, so I tried it. The competition was good.”

Caden Wells of Swift emerged as the boys’ 10-and-under winner in the 800m race in 14:19.19. “I thought it was awesome. I met some challenges along the way. Most challenges were when I was coming back because the waves was in my face,” said Wells, a 9-year-old fifth grader at St Andrew’s School.

“Another person from my group almost won, but I wasn’t going to let her beat me. This was my second time doing the open water, so I really didn’t want to lose agin.”

While this was the third time that the open water was held in Palm Cay, Swift’s coach Andy Knowles said they have been hosting a similar event for ages in Abaco, Montagu, Cabbage Beach and Old Forte Bay.

We didn’t do one every year, but we have been involved in the open water swim since the beginning more than 20 years ago,” Knowles said. “So it was great weather today and we had some good turn out. “We didn’t have any swimmers from the Barracudas because they were getting ready to taper off for their trip to Plantation, Florida to compete, but we had swimmers from the other clubs, so that was encouraging.”

One of the good things about the open water swim is that it gives the swimmers an opportunity to put in a qualifying time for Carifta and the CISC where the Bahamas Swimming Federation looks for at least two performances in selecting the team. “Swift did very well because we had a lot of swimmers,” Knowles said. “I think we did very well, especially in the guys, but the Dolphins did well in the girls.”

In memory of Susan Morley, who died in 2015, Swift Swimming presented two plaques to the youngest and the older competitors. The recipients were seven-year-old Maxwell Daniel of the Dolphins and Swift’s Percy Knowles, 86, respectively.

Also, the BSF presented plaques of appreciation to Cable Bahamas, Majestic Tours and BTC for their sponsorship of both the Carifta Swim Championships and the CISC earlier this year at the Betty Kelly Kenning Swim Complex.