The Tribune

TEAM Bahamas found itself right in the middle of a political protest on Saturday night during the opening ceremonies of the International University Sports Federation’s (FISU) 2017 Summer Universaide.

According to head coach Andy Knowles, just as the Bahamas team, with Joanna Evans carrying the flag, marched pass before a capacity crowd in the Taiwan Sport University Arena, there was a political protest, resulting in all the other countries having to wait, while only their flag was marched in.

Once that was done, all the athletes came in together and they spent the seven hours of the ceremony sitting rather than standing.

It was quite an experience for the athletes who were able to sit on a bus on the ride to the venue and sit in a basketball arena while they waited for the march-in.

Gershwin Green was the first member to taste the competition on Sunday’s opening day, competing in the heats of the men’s 50 metre butterfly.

He placed sixth in heat three in 26.25 for 60th place overall in the field of 77 competitors, who contested the event. Greene was shy of his personal best of 25.87.

Today, the other members of Team Bahamas will be in action. Both Albury Higgs in lane two and Laura Morley in seven have drawn to compete together in the third of six heats in the women’s 100 breaststroke and Evans will swim in heat five, lane four in the women’s 100 freestyle.

There are approximately 750 swimmers at the games with a number of Olympic champions from around the world participating.

In a promotion of the event, the city has turned the grounds of subway cars into running tracks, soccer fields, baseball diamonds, basketball courts and swimming pools.

The cars come across incredibly realistically in pictures. Rather than just putting flat painted images, they’ve gone so far as to capture the texture of the various playing surfaces as well.