The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubb@tribunemedia.net

Swift Athletics’ sprinter Carlos Brown Jr said one of the hardest things he has had to endure was the fatal shooting of his father Carlos ‘Bookie’ Brown Sr on Monday morning.

“I was shocked because my dad really did anyone anything,” said Brown Jr of the shooting that took place in Wilson Track. “I try to keep it off my mind.

“I don’t worry about it too much because I don’t want it to bring me down. But at the end of the day, I have to live with it because he’s gone.”

Brown, a 15-year-old 10th grade student at St John’s College, was just coming off his performance in the Red-Line Athletics Track Classic on Saturday where he clocked 10.82 seconds to win the under-17 boys’ 100 metres and surpass the qualifying standard of 11.02 for the postponed 2021 CARIFTA Games.

“When I go to CARIFTA, I have to make him proud. I’m going for the gold,” said Brown of the games, rescheduled for August in Bermuda.

While they are all still shocked about the news, Swift Athletics’ head coach Andrew Tynes said the club is doing all they can to support Brown Jr.

“Right now he’s doing okay, but I know there will come a time when he will really feel it from my personal experience,” said Tynes, who has been coaching Brown Jr since he was eight.

The former Bahamian national 200m record holder, who represented the Bahamas in a number of international competitions from CARIFTA to the Olympic Games, said they have a family-oriented atmosphere where his other Swift Athletics athletes are all lending their support to Brown Jr.

“He’s emotionally strong, but we still need to keep him motivated,” Tynes said. “We go to the beach and we play games together. It’s a good bonding process for him.”

Having posted the fastest time so far this year, Brown Jr said he’s looking to improve on his time in the 200m where he ran 21.88 for a double victory, but fell just shy of the qualifying time of 21.84.

“Everything I do now, I’m going to do for him,” said Brown Jr in his tribute to his deceased father. “I’m going to make him proud of me.”

Based on his performance so far this season, coming through the off year last year because of the coronavirus pandemic, Tynes said he doesn’t see why Brown Jr can’t run at least 10.5 and at least 20-low in the 200m.

“He’s a quick learner. Sometimes he gets a bit tense during the last part of the race,” Tynes pointed out. “But we’re working on correcting that mistake right now.”

With the season still young, Brown Jr said he has a lot of time to improve on his performance.

“Now that we are back in full force, it’s going to be a good season for me,” Brown Jr projected.

“I qualified last year for CARIFTA, but they didn’t have it.”

Brown is just one of two Swift Athletics team-mates who have qualified so far for CARIFTA.

The other is Dion Desamour, who achieved the standard in the under-20 boys’ long jump.

“He was an athlete that nobody wanted to work with, but I picked him up and he’s off to a great start this year,” said Tynes of Desamour, who won with a leap of 7.34 metres and was joined by Fast Forward’s Zachary Evans (7.28m), as they both surpassed the standard of 7.23m.

Brown Jr, along with his brother, George Brown, and two sisters Pearlamae and Rudamae Brown, are left to cherish their father’s memory with their mother, Carele Brown.