Swim Coach: ‘Energy Of The Meet Was Electric”
Following the 12 medal winning performance by Bermuda’s junior swimmers in the Carifta Games in the Bahamas, Bermuda’s National Swim Coach Ben Smith, said: “The way this week of swimming has gone I wished it would never end!
“I must congratulate the Bahamas Swimming Federation for doing an amazing job hosting the meet and the pool facility was fast and well maintained. It was also such a personal pleasure to work with such a fantastic group of kids,” Coach Smith continued.
“Their effort in every swim was special and they all seemed to feed off each other’s positive energy. As a coach I wish that all of Bermuda had an opportunity to experience this. It is the norm to highlight the negatives but to see hundreds of kids that are brought together for their common goals and have our little team shine the way they have makes me so proud.”
“The final session felt different. The energy of the meet was electric and the swimmers seemed to be feeding off the atmosphere right from warm up. Jesse was our first swimmer in the 400 freestyle and he was given some added incentive.
“The Cayman team came to us to let us know that Jesse had a chance to win an award. The award is given to the 11&12 boy that can win the 200 and 400 free events. This award is given in the name of a past Cayman swimmer who was the first gold medallist for Cayman and he won the 200 and 400 free. Not long after those wins he sadly died in a car crash and this award is in his honour.
“They were all rooting for Jesse to win the 400 as it is not common to win both events. Unfortunately just as Jesse was preparing to go to the marshalling area he tweaked his neck and was in quite a lot of pain. He swam hard and made a new pb but was in discomfort on every breath. He still set the record won a bronze medal and added to his medal total,” Coach Smith continued.
“Next up was the 50 free where there wouldn’t be a lot of breathing and little room for error. He finished this race the way he had all the others by blistering home in record time and in first place. This is his favourite race and after shattering the elusive William Massey record on his way to gold you couldn’t wipe the smile off his face.”
“Two races, two medals and Ashley Yearwood was up next. Every year she seems to find a way to grab a medal and her last Carifta would be no different as she finished tied for third getting her bronze medal. Now 3 for 3 we had Benedict up in the 50 and he was raring to go. With a very fast 24.4 he captured the silver medal and kept our medal streak alive.”
“Shannon Hassell was our last swim for the meet and as the top seed we were quietly optimistic. She had already taken bronze and silver so I told her she needed to complete the set. Anyone that had a chance to see her swim was in for a treat as she left her competition far behind from the beginning and her gold was never in doubt.
“Just as we were preparing for the medal presentation we were given another surprise as Katrina was put into the final after another swimmer scratched giving us one more Bermuda swimmer to support. She swam a great pb in the final and finished this Carifta on a positive note.
“My preliminary tally has this team close to surpassing one of our best results ever but with a team of this size it really is tough to beat this group. They had 51 personal best times, 16 age group records and 1 national record. Jesse was awarded the 11&12 Swimmer of the Meet and had the most points of any swimmer in the meet.”
“Please join me in congratulating this group of athletes that represented Bermuda with such excellence. The Bermuda National Swim Team arrives home on via American Airlines Flight # 308 on Tuesday at 8.10pm and we hope everyone will come out to congratulate them.”
