The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

ON their return home to prepare for the CARIFTA Swimming Championships, Izaak Bastian and siblings Samuel and Salene Gibson travelled on the same Bahamasair flight from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with the Bahamas’ three gold medal teams in the CARIFTA Water Polo Championships in Jamaica.

The trio, home on spring break from St Andrew’s School in Boca Raton, Florida, were all quite impressed by Team Bahamas’ water polo squads as they won the gold medal against Jamaica in the under-14, under-16 and under-19 divisions.

The three teams were celebrated at the Lynden Pindling International Airport by Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Michael Pintard, other government officials, Bahamas Swimming Federation president Algernon Cargill and secretary general John Bradley.

Family and Friends greeted the competitors to the rhythmic sounds of the junkanoo rush-out.

“It was so nice to see the Water Polo team after they did so well at Carifta,” Salene Gibson said. “It’s going to inspire us a lot because we now have high expectations going into Jamaica as the defending champions. They won, so we have to go and see if we can do the same thing.”

Gibson, making her second straight Carifta after winning two medals as a member of the relay team when the games was hosted at the Betty Kelly Kenning Swim Complex last year, said the team is a very strong one and their chances look very good to repeat as champions.

“I swum at school and I just did a meet before I got on the plane tonight and I’m getting ready to swim in the next two weeks in Jamaica,” said the 14-year-old Gibson.

Her 17-year-old brother Samuel Gibson said it was great to see the water polo team getting the kind of recognition that the swim team got.

“It’s a lot of work and so it’s nice to see them getting the national recognition that they deserve,” Samuel Gibson said. “It was great. It was a nice atmosphere to come home too.”

With the swim team holding their own over the past few years, Samuel Gibson said he’s confident that they can continue their winning streak when they go to Jamaica over the Easter holiday weekend. He will be one of the workhorses on the team, competing in five individual events, plus the relays.

“Hopefully it will be another win. I predict that we will win,” he said. “As for me, it’s going to be my sixth Carifta, so I feel I’m pretty experienced, so I definitely want to make the final in all of my events, hopefully medal, represent my country and make everyone home proud.”

For Izaak Bastian, the Water Polo’s three gold medal performances was impressive.

“It’s good to see another team, other than our swim team, doing so well,” said Bastian, who at age 27, will b e graduating from high school in June. “It’s very encouraging with the Carifta swimming in Jamaica just two weeks away. It was good to see these teams get the recognition that they deserve. Now it’s time for us to go and do our thing.

“Hopefully we will go and do our best, pout on our best performance and leave it all in the pool.”

Right after he’s done with his seven individual events and the relays in Jamaica, swimming in his sixth games, the last four where he’s won medals in consecutively, Bastian will be on the flight with Lilly Higgs as they head to the Gold Coast, Australia to compete in their initial Commonwealth Games.

“It’s going to be a test of my mental strength,” said Bastian, who has qualified for his first major international meet. “I’m just going to trust in my team-mates to carry me through. I’m just going to go for the experience and race against the faster guys, a lot of the big names that you hear, so it’s going to be pretty interesting.”

The 36-member Carifta team will leave on Thursday, March 29 for Jamaica as they get set to defend their title from Saturday, March 31 to Wednesday, April 4. They are scheduled to return home on Thursday, April 5.