The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

As the premier swimming meet in the region got underway yesterday, Prime Minister Perry Christie used the platform to discuss the local infrastructural improvements as key to the sport’s development.

Mr Christie closed out the opening ceremonies for the XXI Caribbean Island Swimming Championships at the Betty Kelly Kenning Aquatic Centre with a pledge to improve swimming facilities throughout the country and increase opportunities for prospective athletes.

“We are a chain of islands spread over thousands of square miles. A country like the Bahamas has to see the provision of swimming pools as work to be done. It is a work in progress,” he said.

“I wish as a declaration and proclamation to indicate that in islands like Abaco, Exuma and other Family Islands, we are on our way with facilities. It’s all about trying to provide equity.  We look forward to the day when our athletes for national teams can be recruited from championships in each of our islands.”

The local profile of swimming has grown exponentially in recent years with an historic three-year stretch at the CARIFTA level and the rise of Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace at the senior level.

The Bahamas fell just 21 points shy of their third consecutive CARIFTA swimming title last March.  After finishing fifth in 2013, the Bahamas won the event for the first time in 2014 and repeated as champions in 2015.

Vanderpool-Wallace reached national prominence at the London Olympic Games where she became the first Bahamian to reach an Olympic swimming final.

She will return to Rio this year looking to contend for a medal and will be joined by Joanna Evans who recently qualified  with an “A” at the national championships.

Before the focus shifted to the pool for the CISC Championships, regional dignitaries weighed in on the significance of the meet during the opening ceremonies.

Central American and Caribbean Swimming Federation (CCCAN) President, Felix Calderon, applauded the Bahamas for accepting and excelling in the role as hosts.

“I want to express my thanks  and heartfelt appreciation to the Bahamas aquatic family for this event. It is an honour for us to be here at the greatest swimming federation of our region. I congratulate president [Algernon] Cargill for taking up this challenge and for his work in developing the Bahamas swimming in the region.

To the athletes – in sports the mental game is half of the battle for any victory. You can train, swim and practice all you want but to become victorious you must stay focused. Always remember to do your best and if you have done your best then you have won.”

More more than 20 countries and over 500 swimmers are in town to compete in the four-day event.

The biennial swim championships, which got started in 1976, will include teams from Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Barbados, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Curacao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, St Kitts and Nevis, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks and Caicos and the Virgin Islands.

“It is my pleasure to welcome you here,” BSF President Algernon Cargill said. “As the host of the 2016 CISC I am excited to be hosting  hundreds of athletes to these fantastic championships. This meet is the last qualifier in the world for swimmers to qualify for the Rio Olympics. The pool is fast, the facilities are great and I know everyone is anxious to jump in the water to accomplish their goals.”

While the Bahamas will be out for regional glory with a 69-member team on deck, the majority of the visiting countries will be looking for qualifying performances from their swimmers for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Dale Neuburger, Amateur Swimming Union of the Americas (UANA) President said: “The Bahamas Swimming Federation has gathered the manpower and expertise to make this event so special with more than 500 athletes from 33 nations. This is an exciting time. I wish you well. Swim fast, make history and do something special.”

This is the first time that the Bahamas will be hosting CISC. Andy Knowles is the head coach of Team Bahamas, which will field full squads in the boys’ and girls’ 11-12, 13-14 and 15-and-over categories.