Bahamian collegiate swimmer Lamar Taylor certainly left his mark at the 2023 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II Swimming and Diving Championships, coming away with two more national titles to end his historic performance at the meet with three national titles. The Henderson State University Red Wave sophomore became his school's first ever three time-champion and the first male collegiate swimmer to win three individual NCAA national titles in the same week since 2021.
Swimming at the Indiana University Natatorium in Indianapolis, Indiana, Taylor nabbed his third title of the meet in the 100-yard freestyle on Saturday. He won the 100-yard backstroke title on Friday, and his first title came on Wednesday when he touched the wall first in the 50-yard free. He finished the meet with six All-America honors.
Taylor also became the first Bahamian swimmer to win three individual NCAA national titles in swimming at the same meet. Bahamian swimming legend Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace won two when she captured the 50- and 100-yard free titles for Auburn University at the 2011 NCAA DI championships.
"The experience that I gained from this meet has been unreal," Taylor said. "When I won my third national title I couldn't believe it and I still don't think it has settled in how big of a deal of what I just did at nationals."
Taylor, 19, was in a tight battle against McKendree University Bearcats' Gregg Lichinsky in the 100-yard free on Saturday. In the end, Taylor was too much for the Bearcats' senior as he reached out and touched the wall first in a time of 42.30 seconds - seven hundredths of a second faster than Lichinsky. The Bahamian knew the race was going to be close.
"As soon as I get on the blocks, I am just swimming by myself," Taylor said. "I do not see anybody else, I am just worried about myself. It feels like I am the only person in the water and I have that confidence where I know that this is about to be something spectacular."
Lichinsky posted a time of 42.37 seconds as he stopped the Red Wave from finishing first and second like they did in the 50-yard free. Taylor's teammate Jack Armstrong had to settle for third, stopping the clock at 43.40 seconds.
The Grand Bahama native went into the final with a time of 43.32 seconds from the preliminaries, which was the third-fastest time out of the heats. He swam splits of 19.95 seconds and 22.35 seconds in the final. Taylor came into the meet with the third-fastest time in that event - 42.81 seconds.
"Entering the 100 free, I knew that if I wanted to win the race I couldn't win it from behind, so my goal was to go out as fast as I can and see what I could bring it back in. I would definitely say that my turns and underwaters played a factor in me dropping a second from my personal best," Taylor said.
His coach Scotty Serio said Taylor works hard and likes to take on challenges.
"Taylor comes in, works hard and you see the work day in and day out and how, when we push him to go other times, he accepts the challenge," said Serio. "It brings another level to the kids who are watching it happen. There is a lot about what is going on here at nationals right now; everyone pushing each other and knowing that with the athletes we have, there is a great chance of something amazing happening."
Taylor was back in the pool to swim in the 400-yard free relay with Armstrong, Patryk Dabrowski and Tate Sloan. The quartet placed fourth in that event after swimming 2:54.82. The Bearcats won that race with a time of 2:52.69.
Friday was a strong day for Taylor as he swam a well-strategized race to win the national title in his favorite race of the meet, the100-yard back. His time in that race was a personal best of 45.95 seconds. He swam the first 50 yards in 21.94 seconds then the final 50 yards in 24.01 seconds. He came into the meet with the fifth-fastest time of 46.88 seconds in the 100-yard back. Taylor improved his time from a year ago when he touched the wall in 47.84 seconds.
The University of Findlay Oilers' Timothy Stollings was right behind Taylor in that event as he powered to touch the wall in 46.34 seconds. Coming in third place was the Drury University Panthers' Nathan Bighetti. He swam a time of 46.69 seconds.
It was another All-America performance for the Bahamian when he teamed up with Armstrong, Jase Pinckney and Tim Holt to swim in the 200-yard free relay on Friday. They clocked 1:18.14 to finish third. Winning that race was the University of Indianapolis (UIndy) Greyhounds in a time of 1:17.19. The Bearcats were second, posting a time of 1:17.73.
On Thursday, Henderson State relay team placed fifth in the 400-yard medley relay. Taylor teamed up with Jaren Tippett, Pinckney and Armstrong to post a time of 3:10.97. The Bearcats won that race when they clocked 3:08.08.
The sophomore kicked off the meet by winning the 50-yard free on Wednesday with a personal best, touching the wall in a winning time of 19.04 seconds.
The Red Wave men finished in ninth out of 33 programs with 200 points. It was the men's team best finish at nationals since finishing eighth in 2007. The 200 points was the most points garnered in the program's history.
Bahamas Aquatics Federation's President Algernon Cargill said he was happy to see Taylor achieve milestones.
"Taylor's outstanding performance is a testament that there are no limits for not only him, but all swimmers who want to work and train hard and set dreams to achieve greatness. Lamar now joins Vanderpool-Wallace as Bahamian swimmers with NCAA individual titles, and he is the only swimmer to win three titles in the same championship," Cargill said.
Cargill added that Taylor is looking to compete in long course meters as he now shifts his focus to qualifying for the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.
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