The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

WITH the Commonwealth Games on the horizon, coach Travano McPhee said the eight-member swim team is doing their fine tuning in preparation for the trip to Birmingham, England.

McPhee, who will assist head coach Andy Loveitt out of Grand Bahama, will take the team of Izaak Bastian, Devante Carey, Lamar Taylor, Luke Kennedy Thompson, Lilly Higgs, Katelyn Cabral, Zaylie-Elizabeth Thompson and Rhanishka Gibbs to England on July 25 in time for the swim competition that will run from July 29 to August 3.

They will be a part of the contingent of 28 athletes that was recently named by the Bahamas Olympic Committee to represent the Bahamas at the games in Burmingham from July 29 to August 7.

“It’s going to be a very fast, very respected meet with a lot of top-notch competitors competing,” McPhee said.

“All countries in the Commonwealth should be there, as we should see some world records.

“Our Bahamian swimmers should be right there making semifinals and hopefully sneak into one or two finals.

“But our goal is to go down there and swim some personal best times and represent the country very well.”

Over the weekend, McPhee got a chance to take Taylor through a workout session at the Betty Kelly Kenning Swim Complex.

After watching him break the national record at the Bahamas Swim Federation’s National Swim Championships, McPhee said the goal is for Taylor to swim even faster.

“We’re less than 10 days out of competing so his yardage is still up,” McPhee said. “He’s looking strong and he’s coming off competing at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, so I just want to keep him focused.

“This has been a long season for him and so hopefully I can get him to swim some best times to end the season on a very high note.”

Taylor, who travelled to the World Championships with Lilly Higgs, Zaylie- Elizabeth Thompson, Izaak Bastian in June, said he’s looking forward to competing in his first Commonwealth Games. He has also competed in five CARIFTA Games before the start of Covid-19 in 2020.

Going into his junior year as a member of the Henderson State University swim team, the 19-year-old Taylor said he’s hoping that the experience gained at the World Championships will propel him to some better performances at the Commonwealth Games.

“It was a good experience, and I got some great exposure at the World Championships,” Taylor said. “It showed me what it takes to be one of the best swimmers in the world, competing against the best of the best.”

In Birmingham, England, Taylor said the aim is to achieve his PR in all of the events he competes in and hopefully get a spot in the semifinals and possibly the finals when he competes in the men’s 50/100m free, 50/100/200m back and 50/100m fly.

“Whatever God has planned for me I want to be ready for it,” Taylor said. “I’m training about 2-3 hours a day, I’m in the gym and I’m getting stretched out to make sure that I am in tip-top shape.”

As for Team Bahamas, Taylor said he’s confident that his teammates will live up to the expectations placed on them to perform at their best.

“It’s a very good team and everybody is very strong in their events, and we are all very supportive of each other,” Taylor pointed out.

“So, I feel this is a very good team we have going to the Commonwealth Games, and we should do very well.”

While it would have been nice to be in Arkansas where he would be under the tutelage of Henderson State’s head coach Scotty Serio, there’s no better place for him right now than here in the Bahamas working out with McPhee.

“I would prefer to be training here at home,” he said.

“I feel very comfortable when I’m training here. Coach McPhee really pushes you and that is something that makes the training sessions so much easier.”

For McPhee, he remembers how in 2002 in Manchester, England, he represented the Bahamas as a swimmer and now he’s heading back to England, but this time in Birmingham as a coach.

“It feels very special 20 years later to go back to England as a coach,” said McPhee, who is now considered one of the top coaches in the country. “I’m really pleased that after swimming 20 years ago, I can go back and coach a very talented team.”

The team, made up of four girls and four boys, will afford the Bahamas the luxury to be able to compete in all of the relays during the championships, including the mixed relays with two boys and two girls, as they do in track and field.