By RENALDO DORSETT
Sports Reporter
rdorsett@tribunemedia.net
TEAM Bahamas hit the pool Independence morning to make their competition debut at the 27th University Games in Kazan, Russia.
The team includes University of Nebraska swimmers Ariel Weech and Bria Deveaux, Queens University of Charlotte swimmer Evante Gibson and Xavier University of Cincinnati swimmer Armando Moss.
Each of the four competed on day one but failed to advance beyond the preliminary round.
The ladies duo were the first to compete, in heat three of the 50m fly.
Weech finished first in 28.63s, 30th overall while Deveaux was fifth in 29.30s, 35th overall.
The men also took part in the 50 fly.
Gibson swam in heat five, lane seven and finished sixth in 26.14s, 48th overall.
Moss finished second in a time of 26.32s in heat five, 50th overall.
On the sixth day of the games, and second day since the swimming segment began, Gibson will compete in the 200m IM, while Weech and Deveaux take part in the 100 metre freestyle.
The University Games have evolved to be the Olympic Games for University Students and there are over 12,000 athletes participating in just about all of the Olympic disciplines at the 2013 Games in Kazan.
Weech, who recently won the runner-up high point trophy at the 2013 Royal Bank of Canada National Swimming Championships, carried the Bahamas’ flag during the opening ceremony on July 7, 2013.
Stacey Bradley, head coach of the Sea Waves of Grand Bahama, is the team’s head coach and Sheena Deveaux the team manager.
The Bahamas Olympic Committee has applied for membership in the International University Sports Federation (FISU), the management organisation for the World University Games and the benefit is that more teams can hopefully compete in future versions of these Games.
The first University Games in Turin, which took place in 1959, featured seven sports.
At the 2013 Games, Kazan has set a record in terms of the number of sports included in its summer event.
A total of 27 sports will be contested at the 2013 Games:13 compulsory sports, such as athletics, basketball, fencing, football, artistic gymnastics, judo, swimming, diving, water polo, table tennis, tennis and volleyball; 14 optional sports are included in the Kazan 2013 sports programme: boxing, shooting, synchronous swimming, rowing, canoe sprint, sambo, wrestling, belt wrestling, chess, weightlifting, rugby 7, field hockey, badminton, beach volleyball.
Five of the sports made a debut at the 2013 Summer University Games.
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