Cargill returned as Bahamas Aquatics president

Algernon Cargill will continue to lead the Bahamas Aquatics Federation (BAF), elected to office for the next four years, after he was not challenged for the position at the body’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) and election of officers on Saturday.

Cargill has been at the helm from 2003, as the federation doubled in growth from six clubs to 12 over the past 18 years. As for the elections on Saturday, there are some familiar faces and also some new persons who will lead the swimming federation for the next four years.

Grand Bahamian Lynne Fraino is now the first vice president, becoming the first woman to serve in that position in the federation. Rochelle Bastian will serve as the second vice president and will lead the public relations effort for the federation. John Bradley will serve as the third vice president.

Having served as the acting secretary for the past two years, 2019 CARIFTA team manager Georgette Albury is now the secretary. The new assistant secretary is Andrea Strapp.

Moving up the ranks from assistant treasurer spot to treasurer is Erald Thompson. The assistant treasurer’s role will now be taken over by Kendric Albury.

The federation approved an amendment to have three members-at-large during this term instead of just one. Those members-at-large are Gena Culmer-Taylor, Wilfred Pratt and Christine Wallace-Whitfield.

The election process was supervised by the Bahamas Olympic Committee (BOC).

Cargill utilized the time on Saturday to highlight the accomplishments of the federation over the last four years. The federation’s financial outlook was also on the agenda.

The president stated that they have faced challenges but added that they have also had triumphs. Near the top of the list of triumphs, he said, was securing a contract with Cable Bahamas for the staging and broadcast of the national swimming championships after longtime sponsor, the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), ended its tenure in 2017. The partnership with the federation and RBC spanned 34 years.

On the junior side, The Bahamas has won three straight CARIFTA Swimming Championships and five of the last six. In water polo, all three age divisions won gold medal in 2017 and the country has won three consecutive under-16 boys titles. There was no CARIFTA aquatics championships in 2020, due to the presence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As for hosting meets, The Bahamas hosted the Caribbean Islands Swimming Championships (CISC) in 2016, and a year later, hosted CARIFTA.

Looking ahead, Cargill noted that the Betty Kelly-Kenning National Swim Complex, which houses the only 50-meter pool in the country, needs some work done to it. In the President’s Report, he said that they will team up with the National Sports Authority (NSA) to upgrade the facility.

“The federation will partner with the National Sports Authority to execute this over the next term,” said Cargill. “We are far way away from the early years of this facility in 2000, when the Betty Kelly-Kenning center was considered to be the best facility in the English-speaking Caribbean. Throughout the next four years, we have to change the look of the deteriorating facility we now have.”

Cargill said one of his goals is for them to stage a national high school swimming championship by 2022, once the conditions are favorable.

“I am pleased to advise that we are in discussion with the Ministry of Youth Sports and Culture to hold a national high school swimming championship,” said Cargill. “Ideally, it would be great to have the championship this year, however, COVID-19 conditions may not make this possible.”

The president made special mention of the SWIFT Swimming Club for expanding its learn to swim program across several primary schools in The Bahamas. The program has been established in the primary school curriculum on New Providence.

In addition, Cargill said he was very proud of the growth of the water polo program under coach Laszlo “Coach Lotty” Borbely. He is now challenging Borbely to integrate the program into the school system to the point of having inter-school water polo competitions.

Over the next four years, Cargill said he is looking to have synchronized swimming added to the federation’s portfolio.

Currently, there are 12 Bahamas Aquatics athletes in The Bahamas Government’s Subvention program at different levels.

Local swimming competitions have gotten underway in the midst of COVID-19 in 2021, with swimmers already achieving CARIFTA qualifying times. However, the CARIFTA Swimming Championships has been postponed. A new date will be announced in the coming months by the organizing committee in Barbados, the host nation.

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