The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia,net

LONDON, England: Shaking the monkey off her back, Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace turned day seven of the 2012 Olympic Games into an historic one becoming the first Bahamian swimmer to reach a final in swimming in the Women’s 50m Freestyle.

It came yesterday in just her second appearance at the biggest global sporting event on the planet in the event’s semifinal.

Afterwards Arianna Tweeted: “Gosh such an exciting night for me. Now that I’m into the finals anything can happen. Thanks for the support.”

Her coach Brett Hawke said: “Wow! What a champion. Arianna has the heart of a lion. I am so proud to be associated with her, and it’s an honour to represent the Bahamas at the Olympics. We have one more big one in us yet.”

It was another first for Vanderpool-Wallace, who last year got to the final at the FINA World Championships in Shanghai, China.

Her time of 24.64 seconds at the Aquatics Centre placed her third in the first of two heats, but she had to wait until the last was completed before she booked her spot in today’s final with the sixth best time.

The performance came simultaneously as a ‘changing of the guard’ seemed to take effect at the Olympic Stadium.

Rising young star Sheniqua ‘Q’ Ferguson made her first trip to the women’s final in her second Olympics, while veteran Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie missed out on an opportunity to make both the 100 and 200 final for the first time in four Olympic appearances.

Upset that she didn’t advance to the final in the 100m Freestyle on Thursday, Vanderpool-Wallace said she was determined not to let history repeat itself.

“I wanted so badly to get in the final that I was prepared to do whatever it took to get there,” she said.

As she came out into the stadium, Vanderpool-Wallace had a brisk walk that showed that she meant business. She wore some dark glasses and had her head covered with her hood in her Bahamian uniform. As usual, she stood at the side of the block in lane two facing her competitors in the ascending lanes as she was introduced to the jammed pack arena.

Once on the block, she again got a head start on the rest of the field, but was caught midway through the race by Ranomi Kromowidjojo from the Netherlands Antilles, who won the gold in the 100 final, along with Aliaksandra Herasimenia from Bulgaria.

Kromowidjoj touched the wall first in the qualifying time of 24.07, followed by Herasimenia in 24.45.

Vanderpool-Wallace, the 22-year-old NCAA champion from Auburn University, had enough left in the tank as she held off the rest of the field to stamp her passport into the final.

“Going into the race, I was thinking about everything that I had to do right,” she said, “When I got behind the blocks, I decided to go for it.”

When the race was done, Vanderpool-Wallace said she was relieved with her performance, but she wasn’t prepared to celebrate until she had seen the final heat completed. So she stayed on deck and watched as she clinched her spot based on time.

“It feels awesome. It’s something that I’ve been focusing on for years, even since the last Olympics. I knew I could be here. It’s kind of a feeling of relief and now I don’t have to carry that pressure on my shoulders anymore. I’m into the final and I’m just going to swim as fast as I can.”

As she prepares for the final when she swims out of lane seven, again with world and Olympic record holder Britta Steffen next to her in six, Vanderpool-Wallace was confident that she can go even faster. Based on the field, she will need too if she wants to take her performance to the next level and win the elusive medal for swimming at the games.

“I’m just going to go home, work on the things that I need to work on and come back tomorrow night ready to go,” she said.

FERGUSON IN, FERGUSON MCKENZIE OUT

IN what could be another major achievement for the Bahamas on Friday at the track, Sheniqua Ferguson earned the right to get into the women’s semifinal with her third place finish in the second of seven heats in the Women’s 100m in 11.35 seconds. The heat was won by reigning world champion Carmelita Jeter from the United States in the fastest qualifying time of 10.83.

“I was a little nervous since it was my first race since May, coming back from my hamstring injury,” said Sheniqua. “This was my first time testing it out, so I’m happy with the time and I’m happy that I went out there and I executed my race and I made to it to the next round. So right now, I’m happy going into tomorrow and things can only get better from there.”

Ferguson, the 22-year-old making her second appearance at the games after getting into the semifinal in Beijing, China in 2008, will have her hands full running out of lane two in the second of three heats. In lane four will be American Allyson Felix, Trinidad and Tobago’s Kellyann Baptiste in five and defending Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce in six.

The top two in each heat and the next two fastest finishers will advance to the final that will also be held today.

Ferguson-McKenzie’s time of 11.32 was only good enough for fifth in heat six that was won by Fraser-Pryce in 11.00.

HIGGS MISSES CUT

All season long, Raymond Higgs was making progress. But he couldn’t make the necessary adjustment to the weather conditions and he struggled to get through the Men’s Long Jump qualifying round. He produced a best mark of 7.76 metres on his second jump. It left him in ninth place in Group B and 21st overall out of a field of 42 competitors.

“It was good, but the wind kept curling. You didn’t know whether to put your mark back or forward,” said Higgs. “Everybody’s mark was off. But thank God for getting me here. It was a good experience.”