The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

IT’S not every day that Olympic medallists get to share their expertise with local swimmers. They did over the weekend at the Betty Kelly Kenning Swim Complex as former collegiate swimmer Laura Morley brought three of them to share in a two-day clinic.

The event was staged on Saturday and Sunday and featured American Olympic medallists Lilly King, Cody Miller and Annie Lazor, all former team-mates of Morley at Indiana University.

“I started at Indiana as a walk-on in my freshman year and I stayed on for two more years,” Morley said. “When COVID-19 hit, we were left without a pool and me and my team-mates found a way to train, and we became very close.

“So, when I decided that I was done with swimming, I wanted to find a way to give back to the sport and what better way to do it than to allow the kids to work with Olympic swimmers from the US, who have medalled and have the experience as top-tier athletes.”

The three swimmers divided the group into smaller groups where they got to work on the four disciplines in swimming - butterfly, breaststroke, backstroke and freestyle - before they swum some races against the Olympians before they engaged in a question-and-answer period.

“I felt these swimmers changed my swimming career for the best. They helped me to become the athlete that I became, so I’m really excited that they all agreed to come down and share in this clinic,” Morley said.

“I’m happy that the kids came out. They were very excited and so it’s been great. A lot of the parents were also excited. This is a once in a lifetime experience having an Olympic swimmer, so it’s been a great experience for everyone involved.”

King, a native of Indiana, is the current world record holder in the long course 100 and 200 metres breaststroke. She is coming off her gold-medal performance in the 200m breaststroke in Toyko in her second appearance at the Olympics.

“It’s been super fun working with Laura and the kids here,” King said. “This is the fun thing for us to do outside of racing, so I’m really excited to be here in this type of environment. It’s been great.”

As the “best friend” of Morley, King said she couldn’t pass up the opportunity to share in the experience here and she’s eager to return for an encore in the future.

Miller, considered the “life of the party,” was a silver medallist in the 200m breaststroke at the 2016 Rio Olympics, but is now known for his popular YouTube vlogger that has attracted more than 173,000 followers.

“I grew up swimming at a young age, just like some of the swimmers here, and I got to love the sport, but I also enjoy coming to places like this to help the swimmers,” said Miller, a former team-mate of Morley at Indiana.

“I think they all had a great time. We were able to teach them quite a few things and so it was a lot of fun. It was also great for us because we got to spend some time with Laura in her hometown, which is just amazing.”

Lazor, a resident of Michigan, is a 2019 Short Course metre world champion in the 200m breaststroke and a bronze medallist in the 200m breaststroke at the Toyko Olympics.

She said she’s just thrilled to be reunited with Morley in participating in her first international clinic.

“It’s been so amazing. Everyone has been so supportive, it makes you want to come back again,” Lazor said. “It’s nice that we could come here with Laura and be able to expand our knowledge of the sport to so many of the youngsters here.”

Without any hesitation, Lazor said she would definitely return for another trip to the Bahamas.

The three Olympians left town yesterday, but Morley said they would have gotten a Bahamian culture that they will never forget.

While her former team-mates will continue swimming, Morley is now retired and having earned her licence as a realtor in February, she’s concentrating on life after competition.

She noted that when she attended the Bahamas Aquatic’s National Swimming Championships the week before, she had flashes of her days as a competitor. “I haven’t figured out my place in Bahamas Aquatics just yet, now that I am done as a swimmer,” she stated. “But I think swimming will continue to be an important aspect of my life and I’m just happy to get it started with this clinic.”

Bahamas Aquatics’ president Algernon Cargill and some other members of the federation were on hand to view the clinic, along with parents of the local swimmers who participated in the two sessions.