The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

JOSHUA Murray pulled away from Ricardo Jolly to win the Bahamas Swimming Federation’s Mako 5K Open Water Swim at Long Wharf on Saturday morning. Anya MacPhail tried to catch them both but fell short.

The trio used the meet as their last chance to qualify for the open water swim team that will join the swim and water polo teams that will make up the Bahamian contingent that represents the Bahamas at the XXXIV CARIFTA Swim Championships.

Following their performances, the federation named the trio to the open water team that will travel to Bridgetown, Barbados April 20-23.

Pulling away from Jolly in the second of the three laps, Murray crossed the finish line in one hour, 11 minutes and 42 seconds.

Jolly trailed in 1:13:05. Not too far behind was MacPhail in 1:15:35 as the first female finisher.

“Overall it was pretty rough,” said Murray, who also won the boys’ 15-17 divisional title. “At first it was tough, I managed to pull through.”

Murray, a 17-year-old student at Blake Academy, admitted that during the race, he didn’t see how far or close his opponents were. He was just concentrating on pulling through so that he can qualify for another trip to CARIFTA.

He last competed in 2017 and took a break from the sport. So he was more than pleased with his comeback effort.

“It was pretty good,” he said. “I’m excited. I’m hoping to go there and do very well.”

Jolly, who also placed second in the 15-17 age group behind Murray, said he did his best. “I can’t complain about anything. The first lap was good. The second lap was good, but the third lap was even better, especially from the last buoy to the finish line,” he said. “All in all, I think I gave it my best. It was my best performance ever in the open water swim. I saw Joshua out front, but on the last lap, I knew I couldn’t catch him. I just went for it.”

Jolly, a 17-year-old student at The Leadership Academy, is even more thrilled that he will get to compete in his first Carita Games.

For MacPhail, already named for a returned spot on the swim team for Carifta, doesn’t mind doing the doubles as she did when she competed on both the swim and open water teams last year.

“I did pretty well. The course was a pretty rough course,” said MacPhail, who got a little bit of medical assistance after the race. “I expected to do very well and I went in and did the best that I could. I’m happy for everyone who competed today.”

MacPhail led the Girls

As the winner of girls 15-17 division, MacPhail wanted to challenge the two lead competitors, but she couldn’t chase them down.

“Today my hip wasn’t having it and I had some problems with my legs, so I couldn’t chase them the way I wanted to,” she declared.

The 16-year-old MacPhail said she’s been doing the open water since since she was 11 and after falling in love with it, she decided to continue to pursue it.

“I did three Carifta open water swim,” said MacPhail, who was a part of Team Bahamas here at home. “I just want to see what the water is liked over there in Jamaica.”

The 11th grader at St Andrew’s School said she’s looking forward to seeing how well Team Bahamas do as a complete squad in Barbados.

Coming in as the second female finisher was Salena Gibson, was clocked 1:17:18 for fifth place overall and first place in the 13-14 age group. She too is on the swim team for Carifta, so it was a bonus for her.

“I felt really good. Today was the course was very good,” she said. “I saw Anya out there, but it’s hard to catch someone in the open water. I just tried to focus on myself and tried to do the best I could.”

Containing with some of the boys in the race, the 15-year-old tenth grader at St Andrew’s School in Boca Raton, Florida said once she got a break she went for it.

“This year, I’m looking for a good swim overall,” said Gibson, who competed in the open water race last year. “I want to swim well and hopefully go for a medal this year.”

As for the team in general, Gibson said it’s pretty strong and they should have no problem in defending its title.

1K Top Performers

Although there also a 1K as well, the majority of the Carifta swim team used the event as a means of staying fit. No times were given for their performances.

DaVante Carey, a member of the boys 15-17 division, was the overall winner. It was his first open water swim in about four years.

“It was a good performance. Going out was a bit rough seeing that a cruise ship was coming in, so we could feel the waves,” Carey said. “On the back stretch, it was rough too, but I came back strong because I had some strong competition from Erald Thompson.”

Thompson, the second male finisher, said it was a good endurance race to fit into his training. But he said he doesn’t have the energy to swim the event for the Bahamas at Carifta.

“Going out was one of the hardest parts because of the wind from the cruise ship,” he said. “Coming in, it was even harder because I really couldn’t move my body like I wanted too.”

On the girls’ side, Rachel Lundy was the overall winner. The 15-year-old ninth grader at a home school called Focus Point Academy is excited about traveling to compete overseas for the first time after making her first Carifta team last year at home.

“I think overall I did pretty well,” said Liundy, who is also on the Carifta swim team. “It was an open water 1K, so I tried to swim the whole team. I did get sting by a jellyfish, but overall it was a pretty good race and I think I did very well overall.”

And coming in second was Keianna Moss, another member of the Carifta swim team. The 13-year-old student of Focus Point Academy as well has been on the Carifta swim team before and have won medals in the process. She hope that the open water swim will encourage her to get more medals in Barbados.

“This is my first time ever swimming the open water, so I thought I swum really, really good,” she said. “I tried to keep up with my team-mate Rachel. It was kind of a success, but I’m really proud of myself for finishing the 1K.”

Here’s a look at the results of the 5K race:

Name Club Age Group Time

Girls Division

Anya MacPhail MAC 15-17 1:15:35

Salena Gibson AAC 13-14 1:17:18

Kaliyah Albury MAC 13-14 1:17:39

Mia Sastre MAC 13-14 1:18:11

Jazmine Trotman AAC 15-17 1:23.34:37

Sarah Singh BSC 13-14 1:28:14

Kyla Bethel MAC 15-17 1:35:20

Boys Division

Joshua Murray MAC 15-17 1:11:42

Ricardo Jolly DSC 15-17 1:13:05

Hodari Prince BSC 13-15 1:16:33

Tristin Ferguson MAC 11-12 1:17:38

Andre WWalcott MAC 15-17 1:18:01

Kadin Mott MAC 15-17 1:23:34:38

Wellington Gray MAC 13-14 1:23:34:39

Ralph Wood III BSC 15-17 1:25:27

Caden Wells MAC 11-12 1:26:14

Joshua Knowles AAC 15-17 1:35:20