The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

FROM the success of the BTC Carifta water polo, the Bahamas Swimming Federation is hoping that Team Bahamas will continue to prevail as the BTC Carifta Swimming Championships gets underway this weekend.

BSF president Algernon Cargill sang the praises of the Bahamas water polo team, coached by Laszlo Borbely after winning the under-16 boys’ gold and the under-19 boys’ silver medals on Sunday at the Betty Kelly Kenning swim complex.

The under-15 boys held off Barbados for a close 5-4 victory, while the under-19 boys were nipped 8-7 by Jamaica.

“We’re ecstatic with water polo success,” Cargill said. “We’ve been at this from 2004, knocking on the door and for the first time, we were able to win Carifta water polo under-16 and placed second in under-19.

“It tells you that the programme is doing very well. The leadership is very strong and the players are committed to improving their skills set. The Bahamas Swim Federation is proud of our team because we understand that these young men could have easily crossed over into swimming, but they have committed themselves to performing at the highest level in water polo.

“It also speaks well for the success of our programme. In the past, we used to get beat 40-1 by Jamaica and now we can play competitively at the highest level in the region. But what is remarkable about our team is most of those guys under-19 play with our under-16 team, so we have a great future ahead of our team.”

The performance, according to Cargill, should inspire the Carifta swim team as they prepare to compete against 25 visiting teams starting on Saturday at the same complex.

“On paper, the Bahamas should come first with Trinidad & Tobago coming second,” Cargill projected. “But having said that, it all depends on who perform at the end of the day.

“Our team is excited and we know that they will be using the water polo team success and impetus to do well for the swimming team.

Also from the three days of competition, Jamaica won the under-16 boys bronze with a 7-3 triumph over Trinidad & Tobago; Barbados knocked of Bonaire 11-8 for the under-19 boys bronze and Trinidad & Tobago blanked Jamaica 4-0 in the only shutout to claim the under-19 girls title. Barbados picked up the bronze.

In addition to the sponsorship from BTC for the titleship of the games, Cargill said the Bahamas Government has provided $300,000 to the federation to cover their expenses.

“We are excited that our athletes are all psyched up and they are excited to be participating in Carifta as we try to regain our title here at home,” Cargill stressed. “We want the Bahamian crowd to come out with their goatskin drums and support our tea, because they respond very positively to that.”

The admission is $10 for each of the morning sessions on Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday at 9 am and $15 for the evening sessions at 6 pm.

The open water swim will close out the competition on Wednesday at Long Warlf.

Teams for the swim championships will start arriving today. Trinidad & Tobago, Martinique, Barbados and Jamaica are all expected to be bringing in full teams, which should increase the level of competition.

Results of matches played in the tournament are as follows:

Under-19 girls

Trinidad & Tobago def. Barbados 17-3.

Trinidad & Tobago def. Jamaica 10-2.

Jamaica def. Barbados 11-2.

Jamaica def. Barbados 17-2.

Trinidad & Tobago def. Jamaica 4-0.

Under-16 boys

Barbados def. Trinidad & Tobago 10-8.

Bahamas def. Bonaire 19-5.

Barbados def. Jamaica 9-8.

Bahamas def. Trinidad & Tobago 10-7.

Trinidad & Tobago def. Bonaire 22-7.

Bahamas def. Jamaica 10-9.

Jamaica def. Bonaire 15-3.

Bahamas def. Barbados 6-4.

Barbados def. Bonaire 8-5.

Jamaica def. Trinidad & Tobago 17-6.

Jamaica def. Trinidad & Tobago 7-3 (bronze medal).

Bahamas def. Barbados 5-4 (gold medal).

Under-19 boys

Jamaica def. Bahamas 16-14.

Barbados def. Bonaire 16-5.

Jamaica def. Barbados 18-7.

Bahamas def. Bonaire 13-5.

Jamaica def. Bonaire 17-1.

Barbados def. Bahamas 12-10.

Jamaica def. Bonaire 30-4.

Bahamas def. Barbados 18-12.

Barbados def. Bonaire 11-8 (bronze medal).

Jamaica def. Bahamas 8-7 (gold medal).