It was a grueling four-day meet at the 51st Bahamas National Swimming Championships, and there were some outstanding swimmers who were able to take home the high point award trophy for amassing the highest individual points in their age category at the meet, that got underway on Thursday, June 15 and wrapped up on Sunday, June 18 at the Betty Kelly-Kenning Aquatic Center.

Sean Longley carted off the 18-and-over men's division with 48 points. The Barracuda Swim Club's athlete swam in seven individual races - the maximum allowed races - to secure victories in three of them. He won the 800 meters (m) freestyle (9:33.41), 400m individual medley (IM) (5:14.13) and the 200m backstroke (2:33.74).

Makos Aquatics' Lamar Taylor won all five of his races to finish second to Longley with 45 points. Third place went to Alpha Aquatics' Mark-Anthony Thompson with 42 points from his six races.

The 18-and-over girls division saw Zaylie-Elizabeth Thompson winning the high point award with 54 points. She won six races namely 200m breast (2:48.64), 200m free (2:09.85), 100m free (58.78 seconds), 200m IM (2:27.81), 400m free (4:46.71) and 100m breast (1:15.45).

Mako's Katelyn Cabral held off Lyford Swim Club's Delaney Mizell for second place with a score of 50 points. Mizell finished with 49 points.

Marvin Johnson may have given a preview as what he can do at CARIFTA next year when he swam away with 63 points to nab the high-point award in the 15-17 boys division. The Mako swimmer swam in seven individual swims and won all those events. He swam the 100m butterfly (56.69 seconds), 50m fly (25.69 seconds), 200m free (1:55.84), 100m free (50.80 seconds), 400m free (4:14.94), 50m free (23.00 seconds) and 200m back (2:16.81). All were personal best times except the 200m back.

"I am always happy to come back home and race in front of the home crowd," Johnson said. "It feels great to win the high point award not just this year but from a young age. It inspires me to keep working harder and to get faster."

Alpha's Ellie Gibson was second with 50 points. Barracuda's duo of Emmanuel Gadson and Jack Barr scored 46 points to finish third place.

Keianna Moss swam away with the 15-17 girls division with 61 points. The Mako swimmer had a strong meet with five wins in her individual swims. She won the 50m back (30.83 seconds), 50m fly (29.53 seconds), 100m back (1:07.97), 200m fly (2:29.21) and 200m IM (2:34.93).

"It was a great meet for me," Moss said. "I swam some personal best times in my swims. It was great to be back home in such a great atmosphere. I thank God for keeping me healthy through the meet to lower best times as far back as 2019."

Finishing second in that division was Alpha's Mia Patton with 53 points. Barracuda's duo Kyana Higgs and Rhanishka Gibbs scored 50 points each.

Tristen Hepburn held off Donald Saunders to win the high point award in the 13-14 boys division for his Alpha club. Hepburn scored 63 points to Lightning Aquatics' Saunders who scored 61 points. He won all his seven individual races. He won the 50m back (28.37 seconds), 200m breast (2:32.33), 400m IM (5:10.98), 50m fly (26.31 seconds), 50m breast (30.65 seconds), 200m IM (2:22.10) and 100m breast (1:08.25).

Placing third was Black Marlins Swim Club's Malcom Menzies who had 49.50 points.

Mako's Zoe Williamson won six of her seven races to score 61 points to win the high point award in the 13-14 girls division. It was her fifth time in a row winning high point award. She won the 100m fly (1:06.57), 50m fly (30.11 seconds), 200m free (2:17.01), 100m free (1:02.01), 400m free (4:53.07), 50m free (27.82 seconds).

"It was a stressful but fun meet and I had to push hard. Winning the high point award is not easy as you have to swim very hard," Williamson said.

Finishing second and third were Barracuda's duo of Lelah Lewis and Madison Gilbert respectively. Lewis ended with 57 points while Gilbert had 51 points.

It was a close battle for high point award in the 11-12 boy division with three points separating first and third. In the end it was Blue Waves Swim Club's Christon Joseph who won that division with 56 points. He held off Barracuda's David Singh who had 54 points while Mako's Harold Simmons had 53 points.

Joseph won the 100m free (1:00.74), 200m free (2:16.61), 400m free (4:57.50) and the 50m free (26.84 seconds). He was surprised to win the high point award but was happy with his 50m-and-100m free races.

Like the 2023 CARIFTA Games in Curacao, Barracuda's Saleste Gibson and Alpha's Skyler Smith finished first and second respectively for the 11-12 girls division high point award. Gibson won all seven of her races to finish with 63 points while Smith had 49 points.

Gibson won the 100m fly (1:08.21), 50m fly (29.61 seconds), 200m free (2:18.64), 200m fly (2:54.14), 100m free (1:02.62), 400m free (5:05.20), 50m free (28.85 seconds). In addition, she helped lead five of Barracuda's relay team to victory as she ended her 11-12 girls division career without a loss.

"I think I did the best that I could have done," Gibson said. "It was exciting to win the high point award at home and it was a great experience to be swimming at home again."

Barracuda's Alissa Ferguson was third with 45 points.

Alpha's Nitayo Knowles had some strong swims in the 9-10 boys division to win the high-point for that age group. He scored 63 points. Freeport Aquatics Club's Dexter Russell was second with 47 points. Alpha's Logan Comarcho was third with 33 points.

Mako's duo Taylen Nicolls and Sienna Campbell, took home the first and second place high point trophies in the 9-10 girls division respectively. Nicolls scored 61 points while Campbell finished with 55 points. Mantas Swim and Water Polo Club's Skarlette Donaldson was third with 40 points.

Kymani Cooper scored 49 points for Mako to win the 8-and-under boys division high point award. Blue Waves' Dylan Musgrove was second with 41 points. Placing third was Barracuda's Cole Albury who scored 39 points.

The 8-and-under girls division saw Blue Waves locking up four of the top spots in the high-point standings. Cailyn Dean won that division with 57 points. Rinia Johnson was second with 43 points while Kirsten Rolle took third with 38 points.

The swim nationals began on Thursday and wrapped up on Sunday. Mako amassed 2,689 points to swim away with the title. Finishing a distant second was the Barracuda Swim Club which scored 1,569 points. Securing the third position was Alpha Aquatics which finished with 1,524.50 points.

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