The Tribune

For the third time in as many swims at the FINA 2024 Short Course World Swim Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Olympian Lamar Taylor established another national record.

Competing in the Duna Arena yesterday, Taylor finished third in his heat in a time of 23.51 seconds in the preliminaries of the men’s 50 metre backstroke to shatter his previous mark of 25.12. 

He finished in a three-way tie for 21st overall as neither Masaki Yura from Japan or Cooper Morley from New Zealand made it back for a second swim in the semifinals.

“It felt good to PB (swim personal best) in all of my swims so far,” said Taylor, who the day before clocked 46.35 for 13th in the semifinals of the 100m freestyle, surpassing his seed time of 47.78 with 46.89 in the preliminaries.

“I’m looking forward to my last swim, which is the 50m free. I am going to have fun and hopefully move up the rankings.”

The 21-year-old former Henderson State standout, who is now training at the University of Tennessee, coming off his Olympic debut in Paris, France in July, is one of three Bahamians competing in the meet.

Today, while Taylor will be back in the 50m, Emmauel Gadson will be in the 200m breast. Then on Saturday, Taylor and fellow Olympian Rhanishka Gibbs will both be entered in the 50m freestyle and Victoria Russell will contest the 50m breaststroke for women.

Gena Culmer, the team manager, indicated that “everyone has settled in okay,” but admitted that the “time difference” has been a bit of a challenge.

“For the rest of the meet, we expect everyone to swim their best,” she added.

Camron Bruney is the head coach of the team, assisted by Sara Collis of the University of Tennessee. Cordero Bonamy is the team’s physio.

Bruney said since they’ve been in Budapest, the overall team vibe has been a positive one with everyone holding each other accountable.

“It’s been a blessing to these athletes to travel to Budapest with these athletes and I am thankful to work with each and every one,” he said. “I’ver had some experience working with all four of the athletes and the performer of the meet so far has been Lamar.

“I’m proud of Lamar, but the whole country should also be proud of Lamar. He’s a great swimmer. He’s been a very good swimmer from a young age and he’s even a better and humble young man, who has made history by breaking three national records so far, as well as qualifying for the semifinal, which is a pretty good deal.”

With the training he’s getting in Tennessee, Bruney said Taylor will not only continue to make the Bahamas proud, but he will definitely inspire the next generation of Bahamian swimmers to compete internationally.

Algernon Cargill, president of Bahamas Aquatics, is also in Budapest where he serves as a member of the World Aquatics Bureau.

“I am super impressed with the performance of our athletes! They are rising to the occasion and causing others to notice us,” Cargill said.  

Lamar is having an exceptional meet and it’s obvious that his new training program at the University of Tennessee is reaping huge dividends for him.”

Gadson, who is a freshman at Cornell University, has a very impressive swim in the 100 breast, according to Cargill and his best race, the 200 breast comes up tomorrow.  

He noted that Gibbs did not have a great swim in the 100 breast, but he said she is focused and will rebound in her specialty in the 50 free.  

And he added that Russell, who is based in the United Kingdom, is also hitting personal bests and had a great swim in the 50m fly.

The championships conclude on Sunday.