The Tribune

This year brought a new title sponsor and the country elite junior swimmers continued their tradition of standout performances on the opening day of the Bahamas Aquatics Federation (BAF) National Swimming Championships.

Night one of the REV National Championships was highlighted by finals in the 200m Breast, 50m Back, 100 Fly and 200 Free Relays across all divisions at the Betty Kelly Kenning Aquatic Centre.

The 200m Breast was the first final on the schedule and Mako Aquatics Club (MAC) took three of the six contested races. Jamilah Hepburn won the Girls 13-14 in 2:58.05s, Erald Thompson III won the Boys 13-14 in 2:39.02s and Tyler Russell won the Boys 15 and Over in 2:32.22s. Other winners included Devin Cuffy-Bethel of the Barracuda Swim Club (BSC) in the Girls 11-12 in 2:59.53s, Nigel Forbes of the GB Tritons (GBT) in 3:02.37s and Margaret Higgs in the Girls 15 and Over in 2:32.30s.

The U8 and 9-10 divisions made their first finals appearance of the meet in the 50m Backstroke. Both MAC and GBT each took three first-place finishes. In the Girls U8 Kendall Hennessey Lyford Cay Swim Club took first in 48s and Bill Farrington of BSC won the U8 Boys in 42.48s. In the 9-10 Girls, Mia Patton of GBT won in 35.94s and Tristen Hepburn, also of GBT won the Boys race in 37.58s. In the 11-12 division, Keianna Moss of MAC won in 31.46s and Marvin Johnson of Freeport Aquatics Club won the boys’ race 31.76s. Katelyn Cabral of GBT won the Girls 13-14 in 32.41s and Lamar Taylor of FAC won in 28.05s. Celia Campbell of MAC won the Girls 15 and Over in 31.63s and Davante Carey of MAC took the boys race in 26.75s.

GBT took four of the eight 100m Fly races led by both Forbes and Cabral winning their second medals of the night. Forbes won in 1:03.27s while Cabral won in 1:10.77s. GBT’s Passion Daniel took first in 1:21.74s while the club’s Jasmine Gibson won in 1:09.68s.

Tre Moncur III of MAC won the Boys 9-10 in 1:16.42s and Cuffy-Bethel also won her second medal of the night with a first-place finish in 1:10.76s. Lamar Taylor won the Boys 13-14 in 59.72s and Carey won the 15 and Over in 56.26s

The 200 Free Relay capped off the night with four wins for Alpha Aquatics, four wins for MAC and two wins for GBT.

GBT won both the Girls U8 in 2:49.64s and the Boys U8 in 2:36.01s.

MAC won both 11-12 races in 1:59.59s (girls) and 1:55.75s (boys) respectively. They also won the Girls 9-10 in 2:12.90s and the Boys 13-14 in 1:44.78s.

AAC won the Boys 9-10 in 2:09.24s, the Girls 13-14 in 1:58.47s and both 15 and Over races in 1:54.46 (girls) and 1:35.53 (boys) respectively.

Many of the top swimmers in the country are taking part in the four-day swimming nationals, which is expected to be used as a qualifier for the 23rd Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games in Barranquilla, Colombia (July 19 to August 3); the 3rd Summer Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina (October 6-18); and the 14th FINA (International Swimming Federation) World Swimming Championships (25 meters) in Hangzhou, China (December 11–16).