The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

WITH the competition already over for the Bahamas’ two-member team at the 2020 Olympic Games, Bahamas Aquatics president Algernon Cargill made history when he became the first Bahamian to be a part of a medal presentation in the swimming competition.

As a re-elected member of the FINA Bureau as one of two representatives for the Central America and Caribbean Region (CCCAN), he presented the flowers to Australia’s Kaylee McKeon, Canadian Kylie Masse and Australia’s Emily Seebohm - the gold, silver and bronze medallists respectively in the women’s 200 metre backstroke.

Cargill shared the spotlight with medal presenter Kirsty Coventry, the Minister of Sports for Zimbabwe, an International Olympic Committee board member and a seven-time Olympic winner in swimming.

Coventry swam with Bahamian Olympian Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace at the University of Auburn. Cargill said he met her through Vanderpool-Wallace at both the 2012 London Olympics and 2016 Rio de Janeiro games.

“It was a great experience not only for me, but for the Bahamas, to be able to present medals at these Olympic Games,” Cargill said. “What I found was that the entire event is extremely organised, the medal presentation. It went off without a hitch. Everything is scripted for you.”

At the biggest sporting event on the planet, Cargill said he’s delighted to have been afforded the opportunity to make the presentation as he represents the Bahamas as a FINA Bureau member and to play an integral part in the organising of the swimming competition for FINA.

“I actually got a number of calls from persons in the Bahamas, who got the opportunity to view me on television making the presentation and telling me how proud they were to have a Bahamian on the world stage presenting medals for the first time,” Cargill said.

“It was an honour to represent the Bahamas in this capacity at the Olympic Games and hopefully I get to present more medals. When they called my name, they said Algernon Cargill, FINA Bureau Member from the Bahamas, representing the Americas. That was a great honour to hear the Bahamas’ name being called in the Aquatic Centre in the medal presentation.”

Cargill said he wished it would have been for Bahamian representatives Joanna Evans and or Izaak Bastian, but neither of them made it on the podium of their two events. He said he was still pleased with their performances at the highest global level of sports.