The time for fine tuning and tweaking is just about over and coaches from several clubs are ready for the 51st Bahamas Aquatics Federation's National Swimming Championships set to get underway Thursday and wrap up on Sunday. The event will take place at the Betty Kelly-Kenning National Swim Complex.
The reigning club champion is Mako Aquatics. The club will be seeking its fifth consecutive title. Head Coach of Mako Travano McPhee said that his club, which has an arm in Freeport, Grand Bahama, is not taking its competition lightly.
"Preparations are intense. The swimmers are focused and are looking forward to a five-peat. We know that being the reigning champions, we will be the target. Our swimmers are using this as fuel to work even harder to secure and maintain this title," McPhee said.
Last year, Mako Aquatics scored 2,011 points to win by a margin of 368 points over the now defunct YMCA WaveRunners which scored 1,643 to place second.
Barracuda Swim Club was third last year. Head Coach Camron Bruney said that they have been working on team bonding.
"We are easing up on the training load now. We had a lot of team bonding things going on so had to get the whole team together because we are at two pools. The swimmers don't see each other regularly so we had a couple practices recently where we got everyone together and had fun and raced in the water. We have one last bonding exercise on Wednesday (today) and then compete the next day," Bruney said.
Another team looking to put up a challenge is fourth place team from a year ago, Alpha Aquatics. They, like Mako, now have a Freeport arm after the WaveRunners disbanded. The 11 Alpha Aquatics swimmers from the nation's second city will be in New Providence today to join the other members of the club. The Freeport liaison, Ashley Comarcho, said that they have a strong group of swimmers who will be in action.
"We must be there at least a day in advance so they can rest and acclimatize themselves to the big pool because we currently do not have a 50-meter pool or proper guiding blocks here for the Alpha swimmers. This meet is the biggest event aside from CARIFTA and the Goodwill Games and they are excited. They are seasoned swimmers in the sense that they did nationals before, so they know what it takes to get ready," said Comarcho.
The Blue Waves Swimming Club has been competing at nationals for the past six years and Head Coach Dellan Brown said that he has been preparing his swimmers to swim twice per day like at nationals which has two sessions. His club has also worked on recovery as the meet is very intense. He has the team's physiotherapist and nutritionist working with the swimmers on a regular basis.
"We initiated our nationals preparations about three weeks ago so we are tapering the workload right now. The swimmers are fully focused and ready to go. We have a solid 8-and-under group of swimmers and mixed talents when we go through the age groups, and a couple CARIFTA and Goodwill swimmers in the ranks. Everyone has a responsibility in achieving our goal which is to increase our points and rankings at the meet," said Brown.
Lyford Cay Swim Club is a small club compared to the other clubs that were already mentioned, with about 33 swimmers. Head Coach of that club Mancer Roberts Jr. said that they have eased up on practice sessions, eliminating morning sessions.
"We are just sharpening up on our skills as there is not much work to be done now other than fine tuning details to get everyone mentally ready. Nationals is a four-day meet so it is very grueling like CARIFTA so resting is a priority," Roberts said.
Last year, Roberts said a lot of his swimmers went on vacation because nationals were held in the early part of July. The timing this year worked out for his swimmers as they will be on the island competing.
"The swimmers are excited as this is the meet we talk about all year. The swimmers are ready to wear their new swimsuits and caps. I have swimmers who are moving into new age groups. It is the first time we put together an 8-and-under relay team so it's a new dynamic for my team. Delaney Mizell is the first one from my club to compete in the 18-and-over category. We'll be ready to go," he assured.
Dethroning Mako Aquatics is obviously on the opposing clubs' agenda. Bruney, who was the head coach for Team Bahamas at this year's CARIFTA Swimming Championships, said hats off to Mako Aquatics, hailing it as a club with great swimmers and coaches.
"We are focusing on our club and improving our swimmers as best as we can. If we do that, we are going to be the most competitive team that we can be. We have been getting stronger every year. I do not expect this year to be any different," Bruney said.
Brown prepared his swimmers for the nationals two-sessions multiple days meet by having them compete at about three international meets with that format. He was happy with how his club moved up the rankings in the six years that it has competed. They placed fifth last year.
"We had one goal which was to get better each year and grow the club and we did that. From year one, what we have done was increase points and rankings and we have been doing that well. These swimmers came to us from the beginning. They did not come from any other club. That way and culture gave them more pride and power when they perform. It's by Blue Waves for Blue Waves," Brown said.
The meet will feature 50 international swimmers who will be at the meet competing in an attempt to qualify for the Olympics Games in Paris, France, in 2024. The Bahamian 18-and-over swimmers will have a chance to swim against those senior swimmers.
"The older swimmers look forward to the international competition," McPhee said. "They always respond well to the fast international swimmers who give them that extra push. It's always good to get that exposure of racing swimmers with that experience."
The morning sessions of the nationals get away at 9 a.m. daily and the evening sessions start at 6 p.m., except on Sunday June 18 when the evening session starts at 5 p.m.
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