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National records fall in swimming at UANA meet

Wed, May 5th 2021, 08:30 AM
Sports Nassau Guardian Stories

In what was the first international swim meet for a team of Bahamian swimmers, the athletes didn’t disappoint as they turned in national record performances and personal best times at the recently concluded UANA (Swimming Union of the Americas) Tokyo Qualifier at the Orlando Health National Training Center in Clermont, Florida, this past weekend.

DaVante Carey broke the 100 meters (m) and the 200m backstroke national records in this his first long course meet of the season. Marvin Johnson went on to break the 100m and 200m freestyle national records in the 13-14 boys age category. Izaak Bastian was able to snag a silver medal for his performance in the 50m breaststroke and a bronze in the 100m breast.
Giving his assessment of the Bahamian swimmers at the meet was Bahamas Aquatics Federation President Algernon Cargill.
“I want to particularly highlight the performance of Johnson,” Cargill said. “He set a national record in his age group in the 200m freestyle. Carey set a national record in the 100m back. Lamar Taylor swam very well in the 50m freestyle. We have the junior athletes stepping up to the plate and those who are entering the senior ranks are stepping up to the plate as well. Forbes, Carey, Taylor and Johnson were the stars of this meet. I am not saying that the other swimmers did not have outstanding swims but certainly these four tell us that they are serious about training, even through a pandemic. They are able to still focus on their athletic and academic careers and still perform at a high level.”
He continued: “We had some disappointing swims from our senior athletes whose performances were sub-standard. These are athletes that are on subvention and the federation needs to take a look at that. These athletes are paid by the government to train and we recommend them based on performances. We are concerned in a lack of performances and we will be reviewing them.”
Carey, who just competed in his sophomore year at McKendree University, broke a 13-year record in the 200m back which was set by Jeremy Knowles in June of 2008. On Sunday, he swam 2:08.05 to go below Knowles’ record of 2:08.86. He did it in the ‘B’ final which he won. In the preliminaries, he swam 2:09.78 and found a way to drop his time even further in the ‘B’ final. Finishing second behind him was Max Wilson from the US Virgin Islands with a time of 2:08.96. Scarlet’s Aquatics Ryan Higgins clocked 2:09.67 to finish third in that final.
On Friday Carey broke his own 100m back national record of 58.12 seconds twice, becoming the first Bahamian to go under 58 seconds. His time in the final was 57.03 seconds – the new national record. That time placed him sixth overall in the ‘A’ final as he qualified for the 2021 Junior Pan American Games with an ‘A’ standard time. He swam 57.73 seconds in the preliminaries. Winning the ‘A’ final was unattached swimmer Clark Beach who swam 55.70 seconds.
Swimming in the ‘B’ final of that same event was Taylor who posted a Junior Pan American Games ‘B’ standard and personal best time of 57.87 seconds. Also making the ‘B’ standard in that event was Nigel Forbes who clocked 1:00.61 to finish seventh in the ‘C’ final.
Carey now has all three national records in the backstroke events – 50m, 100m and 200m – a phenomenal feat for the swimmer who just turned 19 in February.
Also at this meet, Carey came close to lowering the 50m back national record of 26.46 seconds when he finished with the fifth-fastest time of 26.54 seconds in the timed final on Thursday. Winning that timed final was unattached swimmer Adam Chaney who posted a time of 26.10 seconds. Two other Bahamians were in this timed final – Taylor and Johnson. Taylor was unable to lower his personal best of 26.66 seconds after clocking 27.11 to finish 15th. Johnson was able to swim a personal best time of 29.16 seconds – going under 30 seconds for the first time in his swimming career. The 14-year-old finished 25th overall, swimming against older competitors.
Johnson broke his own national record the 13-14 boys category in the 200m freestyle, swimming a blistering 1:57.93 in the preliminaries. That time also puts him as the third Bahamian to ever swim under two minutes in that event. He is also the first to swim under two minutes in the 13-14 boys age category. The rising star finished ninth overall in the ‘C’ final with a time of 1:59.81.
Grand Bahamian Johnson also broke fellow Grand Bahamian Taylor’s three-year-old 13-14 boys age category national record in the 100m freestyle. Johnson did it in the ‘D’ final when he swam 53 seconds flat to finish second, lowering Taylor’s 53.09 seconds record. Narrowly finishing ahead of Johnson was Bahamian Kohen Kerr who clocked 52.99 seconds. South Lake Aquatic Club’s Alex Forbes clocked 53.29 seconds to finish third in that race.

DaVante Carey broke the 100 meters (m) and the 200m backstroke national records in this his first long course meet of the season. Marvin Johnson went on to break the 100m and 200m freestyle national records in the 13-14 boys age category. Izaak Bastian was able to snag a silver medal for his performance in the 50m breaststroke and a bronze in the 100m breast.

Giving his assessment of the Bahamian swimmers at the meet was Bahamas Aquatics Federation President Algernon Cargill.

“I want to particularly highlight the performance of Johnson,” Cargill said. “He set a national record in his age group in the 200m freestyle. Carey set a national record in the 100m back. Lamar Taylor swam very well in the 50m freestyle. We have the junior athletes stepping up to the plate and those who are entering the senior ranks are stepping up to the plate as well. Forbes, Carey, Taylor and Johnson were the stars of this meet. I am not saying that the other swimmers did not have outstanding swims but certainly these four tell us that they are serious about training, even through a pandemic. They are able to still focus on their athletic and academic careers and still perform at a high level.”

He continued: “We had some disappointing swims from our senior athletes whose performances were sub-standard. These are athletes that are on subvention and the federation needs to take a look at that. These athletes are paid by the government to train and we recommend them based on performances. We are concerned in a lack of performances and we will be reviewing them.”

Carey, who just competed in his sophomore year at McKendree University, broke a 13-year record in the 200m back which was set by Jeremy Knowles in June of 2008. On Sunday, he swam 2:08.05 to go below Knowles’ record of 2:08.86. He did it in the ‘B’ final which he won. In the preliminaries, he swam 2:09.78 and found a way to drop his time even further in the ‘B’ final. Finishing second behind him was Max Wilson from the US Virgin Islands with a time of 2:08.96. Scarlet’s Aquatics Ryan Higgins clocked 2:09.67 to finish third in that final.

On Friday Carey broke his own 100m back national record of 58.12 seconds twice, becoming the first Bahamian to go under 58 seconds. His time in the final was 57.03 seconds – the new national record. That time placed him sixth overall in the ‘A’ final as he qualified for the 2021 Junior Pan American Games with an ‘A’ standard time. He swam 57.73 seconds in the preliminaries. Winning the ‘A’ final was unattached swimmer Clark Beach who swam 55.70 seconds.

Swimming in the ‘B’ final of that same event was Taylor who posted a Junior Pan American Games ‘B’ standard and personal best time of 57.87 seconds. Also making the ‘B’ standard in that event was Nigel Forbes who clocked 1:00.61 to finish seventh in the ‘C’ final.

Carey now has all three national records in the backstroke events – 50m, 100m and 200m – a phenomenal feat for the swimmer who just turned 19 in February.

Also at this meet, Carey came close to lowering the 50m back national record of 26.46 seconds when he finished with the fifth-fastest time of 26.54 seconds in the timed final on Thursday. Winning that timed final was unattached swimmer Adam Chaney who posted a time of 26.10 seconds. Two other Bahamians were in this timed final – Taylor and Johnson. Taylor was unable to lower his personal best of 26.66 seconds after clocking 27.11 to finish 15th.

Johnson was able to swim a personal best time of 29.16 seconds – going under 30 seconds for the first time in his swimming career. The 14-year-old finished 25th overall, swimming against older competitors.
Johnson broke his own national record the 13-14 boys category in the 200m freestyle, swimming a blistering 1:57.93 in the preliminaries. That time also puts him as the third Bahamian to ever swim under two minutes in that event. He is also the first to swim under two minutes in the 13-14 boys age category. The rising star finished ninth overall in the ‘C’ final with a time of 1:59.81.

Grand Bahamian Johnson also broke fellow Grand Bahamian Taylor’s three-year-old 13-14 boys age category national record in the 100m freestyle. Johnson did it in the ‘D’ final when he swam 53 seconds flat to finish second, lowering Taylor’s 53.09 seconds record. Narrowly finishing ahead of Johnson was Bahamian Kohen Kerr who clocked 52.99 seconds. South Lake Aquatic Club’s Alex Forbes clocked 53.29 seconds to finish third in that race.

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