The Barracuda Swim Club made it clear to other swim clubs that it is looking forward to another dominant year in the Bahamas Swimming Federation (BSF) this season.
Over the weekend at the Betty Kelly Kenning National Swim Complex, the Barracuda Swim Club opened the BSF's 2015/16 season with a commanding victory at their own Insurance Management Invitational.
After 32 events, the Barracuda Swim Club finished the meet with a total of 1,742 points, more than 1,000 points ahead of second place finisher Alpha Aquatics, which ended the two-day meet with a total of 366 points.
The Abaco swim club finished in third with 312 points, Blue Marlin Aquatics finished fourth with 302 point and the Lyford Cay Swim Club rounded out the top five with 257 points.
This was the 30th consecutive year that Insurance Management has sponsored the Barracuda Swim Club's swim meet and head of the club Clare Farrington noted that she has been more than pleased with the company's willingness to lend a helping hand to swimmers over the years.
"It has been fantastic, because it's the longest sponsor of a swimming meet and we are very excited about that," she said. "It was a great meet and the swimmers really look forward to it. It was well supported and Freeport and Abaco came. We are always happy to have them because we know that it's a major sacrifice getting over here, so it's a real positive thing and I think it set a good pace for the season going forward."
Diana Mailis of the Barracuda Swim Club finished first in the 8 and under girls division with 41 points, while Blue Marlin Aquatics swimmer Marvin Johnson won the 8 and under boys division with 63 points. Barracuda Swim Club swimmer Rachel Lunder won the 9-10 girls division with 59 points, and in the 9-10 boys division, Brayden Dam scored the victory with 61 points.
In the 11-12 category, Kevon Lockhart of the Barracuda Swim Club won the boys division with 59 points, while Katherine Slatter won the girls division with 54 points. Sian Longley of the Barracuda Swim Club won the girls 13-14 girls division with 59 points, and in the boys division, Barracuda swimmer Samuel Gibson finished with 59 points as well.
Andreas Weech of Alpha Aquatics won the 15 and over girls division with 27 points and in the 15 and over boys division, Kohen Kerr of Barracuda won with 52 points.
With time trials, CARIFTA and a number of other events on the horizon, Farrington said she expects another strong year for the BSF as a whole.
"I think we expect them to do fantastic at CARIFTA once again," she said. "Swimming is gaining popularity, I know for sure that our club has grown this year, so with CARIFTA coming up they're excited."
Last year in Aruba team Bahamas captured its first ever CARIFTA swimming championship. The team finished with a total of 55 medals - 23 gold, 22 silver and 10 bronze.
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