The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

LAURA Morley, still hoping to continue a family Olympic Games legacy, competed along with Grand Bahamian Olympian Joanna Evans and sisters Albury and Lilly Higgs at the 2021 TYR Pro Swim Series over the weekend.

The event was the final leg of the 2021 TYR Pro Swim Series schedule. The three-day long course meet was held at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis, Indiana, May 12-15.

More than 200 swimmers competed in the fourth TYR Pro Swim Series meet of 2021, which was the final competition on the USA Swimming’s national event calendar before the upcoming US Olympic Team swimming trials.

On Saturday, Morley led a field of three Bahamians in the women’s 200m breaststroke with her sixth place in the A final in two minutes and 30.97 seconds, which was just of the FINA Olympic B cut of 2:29.89. The A standard is 2:25.52.

The race was won by Lilly King in 2:21.82.

In the B final, sisters Albury and Lilly Higgs went head-to-head with Albury Higgs coming fifth in 2:32.74 and Lilly Higgs eighth in 2:33.58.

In the preliminaries, Morley had the fifth fastest qualifying time of 2:30.87; Albury Higgs was 10th in 2:33.85 and Lilly Higgs was 15th overall in 2:34.57.

Emily Escobedo had the fastest qualifying time of 2:24.60.

“We were just going into the meet as a training session, so I didn’t expect anything significant,” said Morley, who is based in Bloomington, Indiana where she’s doing her undergrad and training with the professional swimmers.

“It was good to be up there with a bunch of the girls in the A final against some of the top competitors in the world, but I was a little disappointed in my performance in the 100m breaststroke. It wasn’t where I wanted it to be.”

In the 100m breaststroke, Morley competed with the Higgs sisters on Thursday where she didn’t fear that well. She was 30th overall in 1:12.97. The FINA Olympic standard is 1:07.07 and the B cut is 1:09.08.

Lilly Higgs had the best showing, advancing to the B final where she was seventh in 1:10.47 for 14th place overall. Olivia Anderson won the B final in 1:08.72, followed by Alex Walsh in 1:09.17 and Adeline Farrington was third in 1:09.34.

The A heat final was won by Lilly King in 1:05.47.

In the preliminaries, Lilly Higgs had the 11th best time as she finished in the third spot for the B final in 1:10.23. Albury Higgs was 27th overall in 1:12.22.

King had the fastest qualifying time of 1:07.59.

On Thursday, Joanna Evans surpassed the FINA Olympic B cut of 4:15.34 as she finished eighth in the A final of the women’s 400m freestyle in 4:15.07 for tenth overall as the top two finishers in the B final went a little faster than her time.

Emma Nordin won the race in 4:04.60. Leah Smith was second in 4:04.83 and Paige Madden was third in 4:09.39. The FINA Olympic A standard is 4:07.90 and the B cut is 4:15.34.

In the preliminaries, Evans had the third fastest qualifying time of 4:07.95.

Evans, 23, came back on Friday and qualified for the women’s B final of the 200m freestyle with the 16th best time in 2:02.43. Madden had the fastest qualifying time of 1:57.83.

Evans, however, didn’t contest the B final, which was won by Catie Deloof in 1:59.38. Madden won the A final in 1:57.47. The FINA Olympic A standard is 1:57.28 and the B cut is 2:00.80

“The meet went well,” Evans said. “It was nice to drop more times since the last time I swam. “Every time I swum this season, I’ve gotten a lot faster.”

Evans represented the Bahamas at the Olympics in Rio in 2016.

She is currently training with the Longhorn Aquatics at her alma mater at the University of Texas as she prepares for her second appearance at the games in Tokyo.

“Training is going well and it’s showing in my races,” she stated. “There’s still some more fine-tuning to do, but this weekend’s swims shows that we are moving in the right direction.”

None of the Bahamian swimmers have officially qualified yet for the Olympic Games to be held in Tokyo, Japan, July 23 to August 8.

They will have until the weekend of June 24-27 to qualify in the Bahamas Aquatics National Swimming Championships at the Betty Kelly Kenning Swim Complex.

If there are no qualifiers, Bahamas Aquatics will nominate the top male and female winner to FINA, based on a point system, to determine who will be selected to represent the country at the games.

Morley, 24, said her dream is to join her father, David Morley, who represented the Bahamas in three events as a swimmer at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, California.

And her sister, Emily Morley, who made history as the first Bahamian rower at the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

“Based on my time now in the 200m breaststroke, it’s all going to come down to numbers and I feel I’m in a good position, but I would prefer to put myself in a better position,” Morley said. “I think right now, we just have to stay hopeful and keep my sights set on performing better at my next meet.”