The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net WITH the hosting of the 2012 Carifta Games on the horizon, the Bahamas Swimming Federation returned to the Betty Kelly Kenning Aquatic Center over the weekend for the staging of the Barracuda's annual Family Guardian Invitational Swim Meet. While only four clubs participated, a large group of swimmers took advantage of the first meet that was held for the year as well as the first since the federations' Royal Bank of Canada's National Swim Championships that was held in June, due to the renovations that was conducted by the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture at the facility. The Barracuadas, now coached by Travano McPhee, a past national team swimmer who represented the Bahamas a number of times at Carifta and the CCCAC, out-distanced their rivals by finishing with a total of 2,540 points, almost doubling the 1,077 by their nearest rivals, Sea Bees Swim Club. Swift Swimming was a distant third with 995 and the visiting Freeport Aquatic Club brought up the rear with just 140, mainly because of the small number of swimmers that they brought in. A complete result of the meet is posted in this segment. To boost their victory, Barracuda's got some outstanding performances from Barracuada's Mandia Roberts, Eva Gomez, Amber Pinder, Abigail Lowe, Gabriel Hudson, D'Angelo Gibson and Gershwin Greene. Among the others who shined in the eight divisions contested were Swift's Anya MacPhail, Peter Morley and Abigail Lowe, along with Sea Bees' Celia Campbell, Andreas Weech and T'Auren Moss, as well as Freeport Aquatic's Lamar Taylor and Michael McIntosh. Mandia Roberts, 8, had a sensational meet, posting victories in the girls' 8-9 50 metre breastroke (52.94 seconds), 50m butterfly (54.26), 50m backstroke (59.63) and 50m freestyle (46.45). Amber Pinder, 9, swept all four events she competed in the girls 9-10 division. She did it in the 50m breast (48.74), 50m fly (43.88), 5m back (43.83) and 50 free (38.22). Another outstanding performance in the category came from Anya MacPhail, who won two of the four events she competed in. She was the lone competitor in the 400 free, touching the wall in 6:58.20 seconds. MacPhail lost out Sea Bees' Cecily Bowe (1:43.24) in the 100m back after clocking (1:54.95), but came back to take the 100m free in 1:33.93. She also had to settle for sixth in the 50m back in 52.74. In the girls' 11-12, Celia Campbell, 11, won the 100m back (1:43.24) and 50m back (39.94). She also picked up a second in the 100m fly (1:30.93) behind Sea Bees' Keitra Lloyd (1:21.53). After competing all alone in the girls' 13-14 400m free (5:53.10), Andreas Weech got some competition in the 50m fly, winning in 33.55 and in the 11m fly, which also also captured in 1:18.32. The girls' 15-and-over division saw Abigail Lowe compete alone in the 400m free (5:05.72) before she added the 100m free title (1:07.59) and the 100m breast (1:40.44), another event she did on her own. On the boys' side, Lamar Taylor took the spotlight in the 8-and-under division as he carried all four of the titles to Grand Bahama. Taylor, 8, won the 50m fly (45.53), 100m free (1:32.82), 50m back (54.12) and 50m free (38.51). In the 9-10 division, Swift's Peter Morley, 10, was a major threat, winning the 100m back (1:23.85), 50m back (39.92) and 50m free (34.97) and 100m breast (1:41.17). D'Angelo Gibson, a 12-year-old from the Barracuada's, led a strong field of competitors in the 11-12 division. He got a triple taste of victory in the 400m free (7:22.01), 50m fly (54.26) and 50m back (45.36). In the 13-14 division, Gershwin Greene (1:12.08) lost out to team-mate Meshach Roberts, 14, in the 100m back (1:11.15), but he came back to return the favor in the 50 back (21.54), compared to Roberts' 33.47 before he added the triumph in the 50 free (27.16). And in the 15-and-over division, there were two multiple winners as Freeport's Michael McIntosh, 22, claimed three crowns in the 50m breast (31.09), 100m free (57.82) and 100m breast (1:08.98), while Sea Bees' T'Auren Moss, 16, doubled up in the 100m back (1:08.50) and 100m fly (1:01.09). The next meet on the BSF's calendar will be the Swift Swimming/Gunite Pools Invitational, scheduled for this weekend. See results on page 17