The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

When the Bahamas' 22-member team travels to the Central American and Caribbean Championships, three competitors are hoping that they will make an impression in Mexico City.

Gemo Smith and Cara Saunders are returning to the championships, which will be held this year in Mexico City September 28 to October 1, while Giovanne Farrington will be making his debut.

For Smith, the competition is totally different at the CAC Championships than what he's experienced at home.

"You have to bring a sharper, harder body because it's that much more competitive," said Smith, the open men's physique D class champion.

"What me and my coach (Nardo Dean) have decided to do after Nationals is to go with a bigger, harder body than we had before because of what we saw at CAC last year, just to be more competitive to at least make the final."

Smith said he feels he has the "best coach" in the country and he takes nothing for granted and if everything works out in his favour, he should make the top six, which should put him in a position to go for a medal.

As for Team Bahamas, Dean said it's a very competitive and compact one and they should do better than they did in the Dominican Republic last year.

As the overall Novice champion, who won both the most muscular and best poser awards, Farrington said he's looking to go to Mexico City and improve on his performance.

"I am trying to sharpen my look and show more details," said Farrington, who will be competing in the middleweight division in bodybuilding. "I am trying to stay healthy.

"I'm listening to what my coach (Nardo Dean) is telling me because this is going to be my first time representing the country in bodybuilding. But I'm very excited to be able to get this exposure competing against other people."

Like Smith, Farrington said from what he sees, the team is a very solid one with a good mixture of youth and experience.

"Hopefully one of the Bahamians going to the show can win their pro card," he said. "Hopefully it's me or one of my teammates. In any event, I think we as a team will do very well."

Coming from a track and field background, Saunders said her training is slightly different.

"Weight wise, lifting wise, exercising, the movements are all pretty much the same," she said. "But the feeling of being elected to represent the country is the same.

"So it's very rewarding and it's an honour."

Having gotten a learning experience at last year's championships, Saunders said her rivals competed very well in the wellness division.

"It's a new division, so it was kind of difficult for us to gather what had been expected," she said. "But I have to say that from last year to now, it's all about size and leg definition and also trying to put everything together with the bikini portion in the presentation."

Under coach Dean, Saunders said she has someone in her corner who believes in her 100 per cent and has absolute faith in her ability to get the job done.

"So I trust him in terms of the training and pushing me everyday," she stated. "It's actually fun now. It's not like people make it to believe that it's hard. It's actually fun."

And for Team Bahamas, Saunders said each athlete represents the various divisions very well and they can and will do very well in Mexico. "I feel like everybody is where they need to be at this point and can only do better," she summed up.

Based on the criteria they got from the organisers of the CAC Championships, Dean said they have had to make an adjustment from what they looked like at Nationals so they can be competitive.

"We kind of learned our lesson from last year to what we wanted them to look like this year," he stated.