The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

FOLLOWING its Last Chance Meet on Saturday at the Betty Kelly Kenning Swim Complex, the Bahamas Aquatics has named a team contingent as they prepare for the return of the CARIFTA Swimming Championships.

The announcement came yesterday after several swimmers made a splash in the meet to join the list of previous qualifiers on the team headed to Bridgetown, Barbados, for the Easter holiday weekend, April 16-19.

There were also a number of qualifiers for the Central American and Caribbean Amateur Swimming Confederation Championships (CCCAN) and National Swim Championships, both expected to be staged in June.

Team Bahamas is hoping to go for their fourth title after winning three straight before the event was halted for the past two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The following swimmers have been selected:

Girls 11-12 - Christin- Alyssa Clarke, Samirah Donaldson, Seleste Gibson, Lelah Lewis and Trinity Pratt.

Girls 13-14 - Tia-Isabella Adderley, Lauren Bridgewater, Mia Patton, Erin Pritchard and Elle Theberge.

Girls 15-17 - Rhanishka Gibbs, Kyana Higgs, Rachel Lundy, Delaney Mizell, Keianna Moss and Zaylie-Elizabeth Thompson.

Boys 11-12 - Maxwell Daniels, William Farrington, Lenin Hamilton, Noah Knowles, Dijon Simmons and David Singh.

Boys 13-14 - Caleb Ferguson, Zion Gibson, Tristen Hepburn, Asher Johnson, Ayrton Moncur, Donald Saunders and Caden Wells.

Boys 15-17 - Jack Barr, Tristin Ferguson, Nigel Forbes, Emmanuel Gadson, Marvin Johnson, Jake Thompson and Erald Thompson III.

Travano McPhee is the head coach, assisted by Camron Bruney and Andrew Loveitt.

The team manager is Andrea Strapp. Courtney Barr is the female chaperone and Patrick Ferguson is the male chaperone.

“I was very happy with the team selection,” said Bahamas Aquatics president Algernon Cargill. “We feel that the swimmers have performed very well to get themselves ready for this year’s games after we didn’t get to go the past two years because of COVID-19.

“We feel we have assembled a pretty good team that will be able to go and win the title for the fourth straight year. That is our goal.

“We won three straight before the pandemic and now we are looking to win the title again this year.”

Cargill said they are seeking the support of corporate Bahamas to join the Bahamas Government in their grant to the federation to ensure that the team gets to Barbados to defend their title. He said he’s confident that they will be able to achieve their goal.

In the meantime, he noted that McPhee and the rest of the coaching staff will be working with the swimmers to ensure that they are in tip-top shape as they get ready for the games over the next few weeks. For some of the swimmers, it’s a relief to know that they will finally get to compete in the meet after they met the qualifying standards last year, only to be told for the second straight year that the event had to be cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Barracuda’s Saleste Gibson, following in the footsteps of her older siblings Samuel and Selena Gibson, clocked two minutes and 49.27 seconds in the girls 11-12 200 metres individual medley (IM) to dip under the qualifying standard of 2:49.63. “I’m very excited to go for the first time,” said Gibson, an 11-year-old ninth grader at Queen’s College who has been swimming for about nine years.

She noted that Samuel Gibson, who is now swimming for Pace University in New York and Selena Gibson, not swimming but enrolled at Howard University, have both played a vital role in her development over the past nine years she’s been in swimming. She’s excited to continue the tradition they left behind as some of the top junior national team members that the Bahamas Aquatics has produced.

“I want to train hard so I can go to CARIFTA and swim my best and hopefully get the gold medal like they did,” said Saleste Gibson, who expects to make a splash for the Bahamas in the 100m freestyle and 100m breaststroke.

Mako’s Tia-Isabella Adderley, who swam 37.19 in the girls 13-14 50m breaststroke to surpass the CARIFTA standard of 38.56, said she can’t wait to travel to Barbados.

The 14-year-old ninth grader at St Andrew’s High School said after making the team last year, she expects to compete in multiple events this year.

“I want to go to CARIFTA and try and medal,” said Adderley, who is looking forward to doing it as she competes in the 50m, 100 and 200m breaststrokes and possibly the 50m free. “I feel really good about where I am right now. I just want to continue to train hard.”

Caleb Ferguson, representing Alpha Aquatics, had a pretty good swim in the boys 13-14 100m freestyle where he won in 54.88 and was joined by YMCA’s WaveRunners’ Ellie Gibson in 55.50 as they both surpassed the CCCAN qualifying time of 56.01.

The pair were followed by Black Marlins’ Caden Wells (56.15) and Lightning Aquatics’ Donald Saunders (57.58) as they all went under the CARIFTA standard of 57.78.

“It’s really exciting because I made it last year, but they didn’t have it, but now that they are having it this year, it’s really great,” said Ferguson, a 10th grader at St Augustine’s College.

“I’ve been working out a lot because I really want to bring home some gold medals for the Bahamas,” Ferguson added.

And Grand Bahamian Kaylan Williams, representing the YMCA WaveRunners, is looking forward to making the trip to Barbados as well. The 11-year-old made some national championship qualifying times, but hopes that he will be selected to compete at CARIFTA.

“I’m getting older. This is my second year in 11-12s (division), so I really want to make it to CARIFTA,” he said.

“The competition is kind of hard, but I can get used to it. If I go to CARIFTA, I plan to do the best I can and put my best foot forward.”