The Bahamas Swimming Federation (BSF) is coming off what is widely considered as one of the best seasons in the federation’s history last year, and before this season gets into full swing, the BSF will be looking to recognize all of the athletes who helped to make last year a success, with a Gala Awards Banquet set for March 14 at the Meliá Nassau Beach Resort.
Last year, The Bahamas won the CARIFTA Swimming championship for the first time and placed second in CARIFTA water polo.
Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace, 24, had one of her best seasons as a professional. She earned a silver medal in the Commonwealth Games, and won four individual gold medals at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games. Several other senior athletes including Dustin Tynes, Ariel Weech and Joanna Evans set national records and personal best times in a number of events.
Banquet organizer Pamela Crispo said that she feels last year’s success will pave the way for the sport of swimming to gain more recognition in the country.
“We are really excited about the year that we had in 2014,” she said. “Our athletes are hard-working swimmers and have made us incredibly proud, so we would like to show our appreciation to them, by hosting our first ever Bahamas Swimming Federation awards. This ceremony will be very similar to the Golden Goggle Awards that is staged for the American swimmers. With Arianna’s achievements, and Joanna’s achievements, and all of our CARIFTA swimmers, we just want to show that we are proud of them. I think we are overshadowed by other sports, but I feel that we will show that last year wasn’t a one time thing.”
At the ceremony, there will be awards given out for overall junior and senior athlete of the year, as well as coach of the year. Other awards include the team spirit award, the water polo Most Valuable Player (MVP) award, and the most likely to become a swim coach award.
The banquet will also serve as fundraiser, to help the BSF cover some of the expenses involved with competing at international events.
“As with most sporting events, we never have sufficient funds to do all of the things that we want to do,” said BSF committee member Cecile Greene. “As the year goes by, and we want to expose the kids to more international meets, we have to know that it is going to cost the federation money. The idea behind the banquet is to recognize the achievement of our swimmers, and to also raise the profile of swimming. Hopefully, that will help to raise the financial funds that we need to outfit our kids properly, and to ensure we have the right accommodations.”
Despite the BSF not receiving the level of sponsorship that they would like, members of the committee acknowledged that they have had several loyal sponsors throughout the years, and that some of them have already come on board to help out with the awards.
“I have to give thanks to a number of our sponsors who are lending their support to the federation,” said committee member Stephanie Sands. “John Bull is one of our top sponsors. Super Value, Wendy’s, Nassau Motor Company and Bahamas Bus and Truck have all come forward at this point.”
As far as funding and support goes, BSF President Algernon Cargill said that he expects more from Corporate Bahamas in the coming months, as well as from the government itself.
“One of the biggest challenges that we have is that we are one of the biggest federations in the country, and we still have not obtained matching uniforms from the Bahamas Olympic Committee (BOC),” he said. “Under the Adidas contract we were able to get national team uniforms. We see a lot of other teams going off with matching uniforms, but the BSF has not been successful in obtaining matching uniforms for whatever reason. When the contract was negotiated that was one of the requirements. It’s a huge letdown to the athletes that they cannot get any gear and they are going to defend their CARIFTA title. We also need to have the full support of the National Sports Authority (NSA) that is in charge of the Betty Kelly-Kenning center.”
One of the highlights of the banquet will be a special appearance by multi Olympic gold medalist Ryan Lochte and American 50 meters (m) freestyle record holder Cullen Jones. Both are teammates of Vanderpool-Wallace at SwimMAC Carolina in Charlotte, North Carolina. These Olympic and world medalists will hold a clinic for BSF registered swimmers on Sunday March 15.
Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian
