The journey for the 22-member swimming team set to represent The Bahamas at the Central American and Caribbean Swimming Championships (CCCAN) officially started yesterday, when the team departed for Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. The biennial aquatics championships will bring together top swimmers from around the region for eight days competing in swimming events, diving, water polo, synchronized swimming and open water swimming. Even though The Bahamas squad will only contest the swimming events in the four age divisions, Bria Deveaux is confident that they will do well. "We're just going down there to try our best," said Deveaux, the sole Bahamian female swimmer in the 15-17 age grouping. "The Bahamas is not expecting to place in the top three, but we will still try to place as high as possible." Deveaux, along with Ariel Weech, McKayla Lightbourn and Jenna Chaplin are some of the more senior female swimmers on the squad having participated in numerous meets both locally and regionally. This year's team members include Andreas Weech, Simone Sturrup, Gershwin Greene, Jared Fitzgerald, Taryn Smith, Laura Morley, Kohen Kerr, Dionisio Carey, Dustin Tynes, Deveaux, Mancer Roberts, Evante Gibson, T'Auren Moss, Laron Morley, Lightbourn, Chaplin, Weech, Ashley Butler, Michael McIntosh, Chadeau Wilson, Inoa Charlton and Armando Moss. The first taste of competition will be on Monday when the meet officially opens. Today and tomorrow will be used as training sessions for all countries. Luckily for Team Bahamas, all of the members participated in the Royal Bank of Canada National Swimming Championships, hosted by the Bahamas Swimming Federation, on the weekend past. The four-day meet helped the swimmers to maintain their sharpness and remain competition ready. "I'm hoping to do well and improve the times in all my events and, hopefully, place," added Deveaux, who will be contesting the 50m, 100 free and fly. "I am not feeling any pressure to carry the team, being one of the most senior swimmers. The younger kids they are really good and I know they will do well." The 22-member team will have to ward off the competition from some 23 Caribbean countries. Swimmers will represent Netherland Antilles, Antigua-Barbuda, Aruba, Bermuda, Barbados, Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Honduras, US Virgin Islands, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, St Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

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