The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

SINCE making his appearance as a competitor as one of the pioneers in 1976 in Montreal, Canada, Andy Knowles has been fortunate to coach Bahamian swimmers in six consecutive Olympic Games.

While he won’t be in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, next month when his Swift Swim Club will have all three members on the Bahamas Swimming Federation team, Knowles is hoping that their tradition can continue.

“It’s been 26 years and we’ve always been taking pride in trying to get swimmers on a higher level on the national teams,” Knowles said. “I think each year we’ve done that, getting swimmers on the major international events.”

In Barcelona, Spain, Allan Murray began the first of three appearances in 1992 and he followed that in Atlanta, Georgia in 1996 and again in 2000 in Sydney, Australia.

That was followed by another three-peat appearance from Jeremy Knowles, who competed in 2000 in Sydney, 2004 in Athens, Greece and 2008 in Beijing, China.

Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace, who began her trek to the world’s greatest sporting extravaganza in 2008 in Beijing, was a member of the team in 2012 in London, England and is back to lead the three-member team of Dustin Tynes and Joanna Evans in Rio.

“I felt it’s good to see us get to the top and even try to improve on it,” said Knowles about the journey for the club.

“I think after Allan made that B final in 1996 when it was set up differently, if they had a semi-final, he probably would have been able to go even further in the men’s 50 metre free.

“Then from there, Jeremy almost made it to the final before Arianna made it to the final at the last games and now we’re waiting to see if we will get a medal this time around. It’s exciting to see Swift making strides with the majority of the swimmers representing the Bahamas.”

The only thing left for Swift and the BSF is winning a medal and after winning Carifta and the Caribbean Islands Swimming Championships, Knowles said they are hoping that this is the year that the ultimate goal is achieved.

While Knowles has acted as the mentor for the majority of the top swimmers in the country, he said he’s delighted to see Murray following in his footsteps as a coach with Swift now that he’s retired.

“Allan has been a great swimmer, who competed against some of the best swimmers in the world and he’s now turned into a great coach,” Knowles stressed. “So we want to keep him involved and hopefully he can continue to make a contribution as an Olympic coach.”

As his son, Jeremy, Knowles said he’s always been a team player and is now a principal at a high school in Birmingham, Alabama. He too is hoping to return home to become an integral part of the Swift legacy.

While he’s traveled as a coach on six Olympic teams from 1984-2008, Knowles said he’s delighted that Andy Loviett will get a chance to travel this year to coach his protégé Joanna Evans and the rest of the team.

“For Joanna and Arianna to go in with A qualifying times, which is the top 26 places from the last Olympic Games, and Dustin having dropped as much as he did, if everybody does their best, I’m sure we will have some semifinalists, finalists and even a medalist or two.”