The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

BIRMINGHAM, England: With a day’s rest to watch to his compatriots compete in their individual events, co-flag bearer Izaak Bastian got his first dip in the pool at the Sandwell Aquatics Centre at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Bastian, one of four competitors in action on Saturday, finished 23rd in the men’s 100 metre breaststroke after he got seventh in the fourth of five heats.

“Personally, the swim for me didn’t go that well, but you move with every swim. You learn from it,” Bastian said. “You take what is good from it and carry it on the 50m breaststroke and take what is bad from it and try to figure out what we can do to correct it.”

The 21-year-old’s performance came two days after he and Lilly Higgs carried the Bahamian flag during the parade of athletes during the official opening ceremonies of the games on Thursday night at Alexander Stadium.

But while Bastian said he didn’t perform as well as he would have liked in his first event, he was pleased to see the other Bahamians competing again, all of whom would have gotten their first taste of competition at the games on day on Friday. 

Luke Kennedy Thompson, 20, was 26th in the men’s 200m freestyle, despite getting second in the second of five heats in a personal best of 1:55.44. Kennedy is competing at the games with his sister Zaylie-Elizabeth Thompson, 17, who had the day off on Saturday.

Also in action in the same event were Rhanishka Gibbs (a personal best of 26.85) and Katelyn Cabral (28.15) for 22nd and 46th respectively in the women’s 50m freestyle. While Gibbs, the youngest of Team Bahamas at age 16, was second in the sixth of nine heats, 18-year-old Cabral was eighth in heat five.

On Sunday, Team Bahamas will be back in the pool with Zaylie-Elizabeth Thompson in the heats of the women’s 200m breaststroke; Davante Carey and Lamar Taylor in the heats of the men’s 50m backstroke; Katelyn Cabral in the heats of the women’s 50m fly and Taylor will be back for his second swim of the day in the heats of the men’s 100m free.

Bastian said he’s still ecstatic about carrying the flag with Higgs, who was the first on the team to make it to a semi-final on Friday. And Bastian said he’s eager to see how he and the rest of his teammates will perform over the next few days before the swimming competition wraps up.

“I’m really looking forward to the 50m breast. I normally used to enjoy the longer races, but now I’m leaning a lot more to the shorter races,” he said. “I’m also looking forward to seeing my teammates have a good time at their first Commonwealth Games.”