Over 20 international swimmers will be in town this weekend for what is being widely touted as "the most exciting" edition of the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC)/Bahamas Swimming Federation (BSF) swimming nationals ever.
According to the psych sheets for the four-day meet, some of the nation's veteran and up-and-coming swimmers will go head-to-head at the Betty Kelly-Kenning National Swim Complex, from Thursday to Sunday. It is a FINA (International Swimming Federation) sanctioned event, and one of the region's final qualifiers for the 16th FINA World Aquatics Championships in Kazan, Russia this summer. Those championships are set for July 24 to August 9.
The meet will also serve as a qualifier for next year's Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
"This is going to be the most exiting edition of the Bahamas Swimming Federation's (BSF) nationals ever," said BSF President Algernon Cargill, who was elected on Monday to represent the region on the executive body of the Swimming Union of the Americas (UANA). "This year's nationals features a highly talented pool of athletes. We are anticipating a highly competitive meet and are pleased that RBC Royal Bank is again partnering with us as the title sponsor."
This year marks the 32nd consecutive year that RBC has sponsored the swimming nationals.
The girls 15 and over 50 meters (m) breaststroke event could be one of the hottest races of the competition. Olympic hopeful Ariel Weech will be going up against a couple of CARIFTA gold medalists, multiple national record holder Joanna Evans and Margaret Albury Higgs. The boys 15 and over 100 butterfly event also features a tough field. Swimmers such as N'Nhyn Fernander, Vereance Burrows, Evante Gibson and Armando Moss will be battling for the title.
A bit of history will also be made at this weekend's meet as Swift Swimming will have four generations of swimming in two relays. The four swimmers, Percy, Andy, Dallas and Joss Knowles, will be swimming the 200m free and 200m medley relays, and according to reports, representatives from Guinness World Records will be on hand for both relays, as no such event has ever been attempted. Application has been made for the attempts to be recorded in the Guinness World Record Book.
"I think it's a great thing to have four generations of swimmers competing," said Cargill. "We are certainly going to lobby to have the accomplishment recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records. I know SwimSwam, which is a global swimming magazine, said that it's never been done before, so they will be keeping a close eye on the meet as well."
Swift Swimming was dominant at last year's swimming nationals, winning a large number of races. They have already won several of the meets on the BSF's 2015 swimming calendar.
FINA is the international federation recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administering international competition in aquatics. The global body currently oversees competition in five aquatic sports - swimming, diving, synchronized swimming, water polo and open water swimming.
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