The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net    

THE Bahamas national swim team left the FINA World Short Course Championships in Budapest, Hungary, with four national records, a semifinal appearance and some valuable experiences for the future.

Olympians Lamar Taylor and Rhanishka Gibbs, along with fellow collegiate standouts Emmanuel Gadson and Victoria Russell carried the Bahamian flag at the week-long meet that concluded yesterday.Taylor led the way for the four-member team with three national records, two coming in the preliminary and semifinal of the men’s 100 metre freestyle in times of 46.89 and 46.34 seconds respectively for a final placing of 13th overall. 

The Henderson State graduate, who is now competing for the University of Tennessee, also posted national records in the 100 back in 23.51 for 21st place and 23.24 in the 50m butterfly for 39th place. 

And he was also 29th in the 50m free in 21.57, but no record breaking performance in his final event. 

“I am very happy with my nationals record that I have set this week,” Taylor said. “tt is always a good feeling to PB (personal best) and knowing what I am doing in practice is working. “I enjoyed my 100 free the most. It is a race that has come a long way.”

Taylor, who was coming off his debut at the Olympics in Paris, France in July, will be returning to college where he will be competing in January in a few dual meetsb where he will team up with his team-mates.

As for Team Bahamas, Taylor said he was very proud of the way they performed and he can’t wait to get another opportunity to swim with them again.Gadson, a freshman at Cornell University,  also produced a national record in the men’s 200m backstroke in a time of 2:10.49 for 29th overall. He also was 42nd in the 100m breaststroke in 1:00.42.

“I think my races went well, all best times so I’m pretty happy with how I competed,” he said. “I learned a lot of new things on this trip and I’m looking forward to competing even better at the next one.” In her second appearance on the senior international scene was Russell. The United Kingdom-based student, who made her debut in February with Taylor, Gibbs and Marvin Johnson as tam-mates at the World Championships in Doha, Qatar got 45th in her women’s 50m butterfly in 28.72 and 50th in the 50m breaststroke in 33.26.

“Despite coming down with a cold leading up to the competition, I’m still really content with how I performed,” she stressed. “Competing on the world stage is always a valuable experience, and it provides important lessons for future growth. 

“I’m focused on making the necessary improvements, and I look forward to hopefully representing The Bahamas again in the future.”

It wasn’t the same for Gibbs, who also made the Olympic team in Paris. She was 58th twice in the women’s 50m freestyle in 26.54 and the 100m breaststroke in 1:14.99. 

The Texas Christian University sophomore expressed her disappointment. 

“I thought the meet was far from my best, but not every meet iws going to be a great meet,” she lamented. “So I wasn’t pleased.”

The team was managed by Gena Culmer-Taylor, the head coach was Camron Bruney, assisted by Sara Collins from the University of Tennessee and Cordero Bonimy was the physiotherapist.

Bahamas Aquatics’ president Algernon Cargill also attended the championships as a member of the World Aquatics Bureau. He also got a chance to present medals to the winners of both the men and women 50m backstroke.