Swimmers get back in the pool

After being postponed for a week, the Milo Butler Blue Waves Swim Club Spring Invitational took place over the weekend as swimmers were back in action at the Betty Kelly-Kenning National Swim Complex for the first time since March 6.

Head coach of the club Dellan Brown said he was happy with the performances of the swimmers who were eager to get back in the pool after a long layoff.

“The weekend on the whole was like a stress reliever for the team,” Brown said. “We have been locked in training for almost 10 weeks. CARIFTA was canceled and we had to reschedule our calendar and training plan. We were stuck in a 10-week cycle. The swimmers were a little disappointed about it not being held last weekend but we reset and came into this weekend and wanted to do great.”

Brown said all of his swimmers were able to drop times in at least one of their races. With the CARIFTA meet canceled for a second consecutive year, swimmers will now be tuning up for the Bahamas Aquatics Federation’s National Swimming Championships, set for the end of next month.

“I can proudly say that every member of our team (Blue Waves) dropped time in one or more events. That is just the work that they put in. They have been pushing, they’re disciplined and have been working hard. It is just a manifestation of what they have been doing,” said Brown. He added that his swimmers are pumped up for the nationals, which is the biggest meet of the season for them. He said they will field their biggest team in five years of the club’s existence.

For a second straight weekend, 19-year-old DaVante Carey went under 58 seconds in the 100 meters (m) backstroke event. The Mako Aquatics swimmer clocked 57.64 seconds to touch the wall first in the 15-and-over boys race and in his heat. This followed him setting a national record of 57.12 seconds at the UANA (Swimming Union of the Americas) Tokyo Qualifier in Clermont, Florida, last weekend.

At the meet this past weekend, Alpha Aquatics Club’s Rondon Williams was a distant second in that age category when he clocked 1:09.03. Carey’s teammate Wellington Gray finished third with a time of 1:11.40.

There were three Mako swimmers in the 15-and-over boys 200m back event. Carey took it easily, touching the wall in 2:15.12. Last weekend, he went under the 2:09 mark, setting a national record of 2:08.05. Those were Carey’s two events for the meet and also his first long course meet on home soil for the season.

There were high-point awards given out to swimmers who performed exceptional over the four-session meet. In the 9-10 boys category, the Blue Waves snagged two of the top awards. It was the Blue Waves’ Christon Joseph who finished with the top prize, scoring 61 points. The Barracuda Swim Club’s David Singh was sandwiched between two Blue Waves swimmers after scoring 57 points. Finishing third was the Blue Waves’ Makhai Cartwright with 40 points.

Joseph swam in seven events at the meet. He was dominant as he won six of seven races. He won the 50, 100 and 200m freestyle events, the 50m butterfly, the 50 and 100m breaststroke events, and the 200m individual medley (IM).

In the 9-10 girls category, it was a very tight race as the top three were separated by just two points. Mako’s DNDN McKenzie swam away with the top prize after finishing with 14 points. Taylor Knowles from the Sea Waves Aquatics Team scored 13 points. It was enough to edge out Barracuda’s A’Myah Davis who left the meet with 12 points to place third.

Like with the 9-10 boys category, in the 8-and-under boys category, the host club walked away with two of the top three positions. They won that category as Kriston Rolle dominated the field with 61 points. His closest competitor was Mako’s Adrian Dean who came away with 36 points. Rolle’s teammate Nyhle Lightbourne was a close third with 34 points.

Rolle won six of the seven races that he entered and finished second in the one he did not win. He won the 50, 100 and 200m free; 50m fly; 50m breast; 50m back; and 200m IM events.

Mako finished first and second in the 8-and-under girls category as Taylen Nicholls won that category with 61 points. Her teammate Isabella Munroe went on to finish second with 51 points. Coming away with a third place finish was Mantas Swim and Water Polo Club’s Skarlette Donaldson after she scored 24 points.

Munroe swam seven races. She came away with a win in the 100m free and 50m breast events.

Delaney Mizell won two of the three events she swam in the 15-and-over girls category this past weekend. The Lyford Cay swimmer won the 50m free and 50m breast events.

In the 50m breast, Mizell clocked 37.88 seconds to win that race. Alpha’s Philena Styles was second when she swam 40.60 seconds. 

Rounding out the top three was Mako’s Kyla Bethell who posted a time of 44.38 seconds.

Mizell clocked 27.60 seconds in the 50m free to win that event. Kaliyah Albury swam 29.70 seconds and placed second. Finishing third was Barracuda’s Sarah Sing who recorded a time of 30.24 seconds.

Brown thanked the sponsors for believing in the club and ensuring that the meet was supported.

“I must say a thank you to Milo Butler and Sons. They have been sponsoring us three going into four years now. We must also thank the Fox Foundation who came on board. We also want to thank the Bahamas Insurance Commission along with other small sponsors that chipped in to make it a success,” Brown said. “We wanted to make it a rewarding meet for the swimmers. Most meets that we have been doing, there have no been awards because of cost. My president, Rochelle (Butler) and the team went above and beyond to make sure that we had sponsors from all over so we could provide awards for up to third place and heat winner prizes. We made it a point to do that because we wanted our meet to be the meet to attend.”

In compliance with COVID-19 guidelines and protocols, there were no spectators in the stands at the meet, but it was live streamed.

Next up on the local swimming calendar will be the Alpha Aquatics Meet set for this coming Saturday at the Betty Kelly-Kenning National Swim Complex.

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