On the strength of five senior female swimmers who came from college and dominated that division, and the country's most decorated male swimmer ever, Swift Swimming returned to the top of competitive swimming here in The Bahamas. The well established club carted off its first national title since 2006, racking up more than 2,100 points to easily out-distance their nearest rival, the Sea Bees Swim Club. Swift Swimming won the 40th Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) National Swimming Championships with 2,170.50 points, the Sea Bees were second with 1,603.50 points, and the Barracudas Swim Club, which had won eight of the previous 10 championships, settled for third overall, with 1,306 points. The Dolphins Swim Club were a distant fourth with 484 points, and the Lucayan Lightning Swim Team out of Grand Bahama, rounded out the top five, with 320 points. Swift's five senior females, Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace, Alana Dillette, Ashley Butler, Jenna Chaplin and McKayla Lightbourn, took charge in the 15 and Over Girls division, and the return of multi national record holder Jeremy Knowles brought stability to the 15 and Over Boys division, to go along with a number of exceptional performances, particularly in the eight and under divisions. "It was a really good effort across the board for us," said Head Coach Andy Knowles last night. "I think that we had kids in every age group scoring points and I think that we won most of the age groups high point trophies which shows the depth that we had this year. We worked very hard this year and it shows. I think that all of the kids swam well. There were a lot of personal bests and quite a few races where we went 1-2-3, so it was real fun and exciting. Right now, it just feels good to win and take the title away from the Barracudas this year," he added. The four-day meet wrapped up at the Betty Kelly Kenning National Swim Complex last night with the always exciting 200-meter (m) Freestyle relays. In the final race of the championships, two teams shattered the former Bahamas national record time of 1:39.22, in the 15 and Over Boys 200m Free relay. The Freeport Aquatics Club team of Vereance Burrows, Evante Gibson, Ashton Knowles and Michael McIntosh, set the new national mark at 1:36.35, and the Sea Bees team of Armando Moss, Lucas Leite, Inoa Charlton and T'Auren Moss, finished second in 1:37.28. Swift Swimming's team comprising of Donovan Higgs, Anibal Hernandez Valdes, Jemarco Armbrister and Jeremy Knowles, brought home the bronze medal, in 1:43.97. In the senior girls version of that race, Swift Swimming's Vanderpool-Wallace, Dillette, Butler and Chaplin, brought home the gold medal, in 1:53.12. The Barracudas team of Gabrielle Greene, Bria Deveaux, Je'Nae Saunders and Miriam Crispo, was second in 1:53.28, and the Sea Bees team of Ariel Weech, Anthaya Rolle, Franshon Francis and Jade Thompson, finished third in 1:54.95. An abundance of national records were broken at these RBC Swimming Championships, and three Olympic qualifying times were met. Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace had already qualified for the 2012 London Olympic Games in the 50 and 100m Free events, and Alana Dillette had already qualified in the 100m Back, but the dynamic duo met all three qualifying times again, at these swimming nationals. They led the senior girls division for the Swift Swimming Club. "There has been a little bit of a dry spell but we've been patient and now we can see the rewards of our hard work," said coach Andy Knowles last night. "We have been doing a lot of work with the government schools and it feels real good to have this type of performance from all of our swimmers at these nationals. We have a lot of eight and under swimmers who contributed well this year, and then we were led by our senior females who came home from school like Arianna, Alana, Jenna, Ashley and McKayla. They led by example and that put the icing on the cake for us this year, and then we also had Jeremy coming home and helping us with the senior boys so that fared well for us as well," he added. The Bahamas Swimming Federation (BSF) will now turn its attention to the Central American and Caribbean Swimming Confederation (CCCAN) Championships, which will get underway this weekend in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. The BSF recently ratified a 22-member team for those championships. Also, a three member team, Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace, Alana Dillette and Vereance Burrows, are set to represent The Bahamas at the 14th FINA World Championships, which are scheduled for July 16-31, in Shanghai, China.

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