WILDEY, Barbados -- Now that The Bahamas has officially solidified itself as a swimming powerhouse in the Caribbean region by winning a second consecutive CARIFTA title, Bahamas Swimming Federation (BSF) President Algernon Cargill said that the federation's new goal is to now try and field senior teams of similar strength at international competitions.

The victorious 38-member CARIFTA swim team returned home late last night. They secured their second straight CARIFTA swim title at Barbados' National Swim Complex in Wildey, Barbados, on Tuesday night.

Cargill noted that one of the main reasons for the drop off in production at the senior level, is that many of the athletes aren't staying in the sport long enough.

Many seem to lose interest in competing after the collegiate level, but Cargill feels that if they were to stick around in the sport and give it a shot on the senior international level, they would succeed.

He feels that the country has athletes who have potential to be competitive. Last year, Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace proved just that, as she turned in one of the most impressive seasons by a Bahamian swimmer in history. "We need our seniors to stick around a bit longer," said Cargill.

"Arianna has proven that. This is her third Olympic Games that she is preparing for in Rio de Janeiro, Jeremy Knowles went to five Olympic Games during his career.

We need them to stay in the sport longer, and in order for them to do that, they need the proper sponsorship from Corporate Bahamas.

"With BTC sponsoring Arianna, it shows that swimmers can attract the large corporations, and they need more support because the travel to CARIFTA alone cost the federation more than $250,000 to send the team to Barbados.

We managed to get them there with the support of BTC and other corporate citizens." Swimming at the senior level is expected to receive a major boost in the coming years, with Grand Bahama native and CARIFTA standout Joanna Evans joining the ranks of the country's top swimmers.

At the CARIFTA Swimming Championships in Wildey, Evans finished with more than 10 medals, and was the high point winner for the 15-17 girls division.

At the 2014 edition of the championships in Aruba, she was the high point scorer for the same division. Also last year, Evans made history when she won the country's first swimming medal at the Youth Olympic Games.

At the event hosted in Nanjing, China, Evans captured a bronze medal in the 800 meters (m) freestyle in a time of 8:39.75, dropping almost two seconds off her previous national record of 8:41.39 that she set at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, last August.

Vanderpool-Wallace is also coming off one of the best years of her career. Last year, she won a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games, the country's first swimming medal at the games.

She also put on a dominant at the 22nd Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games in Veracruz, Mexico.

She won four individual gold medals for The Bahamas at the games, taking both short prints in the freestyle events and then adding the 50 and 100m fly titles to her collection.

She is the only Bahamian, in any sport, to ever win four individual gold medals at the CAC Games. Both Evans and Vanderpool-Wallace are expected to take part in the Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada, in July, and the International Swimming Federation's (FINA) World Championships in Kazan, Russia, from July 24 to August 9.

Cargill remains optimistic for the 2015 swimming season.

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