Lightning swimmers win 13 Carifta medals

SMILING from ear to ear, four members of the Lucayan Lightning swim team returned from the Carifta Swimming Championships in Bridgetown, Barbados. And they certainly had good reason to celebrate, bringing home an impressive 13 medals.

The Bahamas' swim team, which had a total of 36 swimmers - four from Grand Bahama, one from Abaco and 31 from Nassau - amassed 41 medals and got third place overall behind Guadeloupe and Trinidad and Tobago.

Algernon Cargill, president of the Bahamas Swimming Federation highlighted the Lightning's Dustin Tynes as the most outstanding Bahamian swimmer in the 2011 Carifta championships.

In the boys' 13-14 category, Dustin won gold medals in the 50m, 100m and 200m breast stroke, breaking three Carifta records and two Bahamian records. He was also a member of the 400m medley relay team which took the bronze.

Taryn Smith swam in one of the closest races of the entire meet, the girls' 13-14 50m freestyle. There was a tie for the gold and Taryn received the bronze, only nine hundredths of a second behind the first place times.

Smith was awarded silver in the 50m fly and 100m free. She swam some of the strongest legs in all her relay events which gave her silver medals in the 400m medley, 200m, 400m and 800m freestyle.

Joanna Evans, swimming her first year in the girls' 13-14 category, joined her team mate and close friend Taryn in the 800m freestyle relay and was delighted with her silver medal.

The "third musketeer" of this dynamic trio, Maya Albury, competed in the girls' 15-17 category, swimming numerous personal best times and an impressive leg in the 200m freestyle relay to win her team the bronze medal.

Andy Loveitt, coach of the Lucayan Lightning, was extremely proud of his swimmers' performances, saying that dedication, resilience and hard work bring rewards.

Loviett wanted to publicly thanked Anita Doherty of Bishop Michael Eldon School, Preben Olsen of the Grand Bahama Yacht Club and Mike Webber of Our Lucaya for their support and use of pools, Sky Bahamas for travel sponsorship and Peter Rebmann and the Top 20 Club for their generous financial assistance.

"These results have been achieved under challenging circumstances. These children have been compelled to use different pools to achieve their goals. On some days, the team has to travel to different venues to accumulate sufficient training time," said Loveitt.

Bahamas team manager Patra Albury was very happy with the contingent that went to Barbados.

"Without exception, the 36 swimmers represented their families and country remarkably well. We are very proud of them.

"The celebrations had to be very short for the Lucayan Lightning Swim Team because they were up bright and early on Friday morning, training at 9am with their new motto, 'Don't wait for your ship to come in, swim out to it.'"

Community organisation sets out to create ‘Safe Swim Zone’ for Grand Bahama

Shown L-R: Brad Scott and James Sarles, club members; Ken Saunders, incoming president; James Rose, past president; Wayne Russell, treasurer; Steven Dillet, assistant district governor; and Ivan Chestnut, club member. (Photo: Erik J. Russell / Keen i Media Ltd)

A local community organisation has launched a new initiative to create a ‘Safe Swim Zone’ along the south shore of Grand Bahama for the protection of visitors and residents alike.

The Rotary Club of Grand Bahama Sunrise has taken on a project that will enhance the tourist experience and make it just a little bit safer for everyone on Grand Bahama.

Members have embarked on a project to create a Safe Swim Zone all along the island’s southern coast by creating a distinct separation between boaters and jet ski operators on one side of the surf and swimmers on the other.

Over recent months, the project took Rotarians door-to-door of beachfront residences and businesses to help raise the funds required to purchase the materials and equipment needed to establish the safe swimming area. The funds will also continue the Rotary Club’s extensive year-round community support efforts.

This project has raised over $25,000 from concerned residents in the local community, and as a result, Rotarians have been able to purchase 260 polyethylene 16-inch diameter foam-filled buoys that were custom-made by Jim Buoy, in California. The next phase of this project is focused on placing them in the water.

The implementation stage will require additional donations to the Rotary Club, but for Immediate Past President of the Rotary Club of Grand Bahama Sunrise Jamie Rose this is a mission that is worth the effort and worthy of the continued support of the Grand Bahama community.


“The Safe Swim Zone project was brought on because there is a lot of abuse going on as far as [boaters] going in too close to the shore, and it showed a clear immediate danger for people who are going swimming off the beach,” Mr Rose said. “This was something that could really affect the community, safety-wise and tourism-wise. So, this will give an area that will show where the liability is for boaters. It gives boaters an area of responsibility,” he said.

The Safe Swim Zones will be designated at Taino Beach, Discovery Bay, Banana Bay, in front of the Coral Beach hotel, the entire stretch of the Silver Point jetty entrance, Bell Channel and past Smith’s Point, Spanish Main, and as far east as the Grand Lucayan Waterway.

Mr Rose explained: “The law states that boats have to stay 200 feet away from the high tide mark, but 200 feet away is often violated by boaters. So, for people by the water, especially in the summer, it poses a threat to their safety. Jet skiers, banana boat operators – generally, they are all operating inside 200 feet – not necessarily because they are in defiance of the law, but because there is no clear line showing them what the distance is.”

According to Mr Rose, volunteers will install the buoys, and large concrete moorings will be used to anchor the buoys in the water so that they will stay in place all year. The moorings have been specially designed to also provide a safe habitat for marine life such as crawfish and fish. He noted that this would be an ongoing maintenance project for Rotarians in Grand Bahama.

Betty Bethel, general manager of business development at the Ministry of Tourism, said the project is a timely one as the ministry is concerned about tourist safety on the beaches.

“There is a concern of creating a swim zone for guests because we do have a lot of illegal operators on the beach, primarily in the Lucaya area, and we have been aggressively addressing that along with the police department and the port director,” she said.

Mrs Bethel applauded Rotary for taking the initiative as a private organization and living up to the ministry’s slogan “tourism is everybody’s business” and for helping to improve the tourism product on Grand Bahama. She said that the ministry has been working with the Royal Bahamas Police Force — the Lucaya station in particular — to have a stronger police presence on the beach.

Mr Rose said that a key element of their efforts is to help raise awareness about the purpose and function of the Safe Swim Zone. “Part of the goal will be for us to have signage placed throughout public access points to the beaches, in the hotel lobbies and areas where the public can actually get through to the beach.” Mr Rose explained that the signs will state what the buoy line is, how it was installed, where the funding came from and informing swimmers that they should stay inside this buoy line for their own safety.

“We have been in talks with commercial operators who utilise that stretch of beach so they are aware that the project is ongoing and are fully supportive of it as well,” Rose said.

Installation of the Safe Swim Zone buoy system is expected to begin on May 7, 2011.

Grand Bahama Athlete Wins Gold And Sets Record In Texas

Former Tabernacle Baptist Academy Falcons quarter miler Demetrius Pinder captured a gold medal Saturday, the final day of the NCAA Division One Indoor Championships in College Station, Texas.

Pinder, the NACAC U23 bronze medalist, representing Texas A&M, won the men’s 400m in 45.33 seconds, which beat the old facility record of 45.69 set by Michael Bingham in 2009.

“I’m happy I got the win, because I worked so hard every day,” said Pinder in an interview on his schools’ website. “It finally paid off. To be a senior and set a record is a big achievement for me. I really didn’t have a race strategy, I just wanted to go out there and run and do what I have to do, stay strong mentally and it came through.”

Pinder also carried Texas A&M to victory in the men’s 4x400m relay.

Pinder shot into the lead on the second lap of his team’s relay, when A&M took charge on its way to a winning time of 3:04.24.

It was Pinder, who had excellent times and whose running style infused the crowd with a jolt of adrenaline.

He rocketed forward during the pivotal stretch of the final race, giving A&M a going away present for the second national indoor championships it has hosted.

“It was so crazy,” Pinder said of the noisy crowd of 4,487. “It made me happier and kept me going; it was an excellent day for me. I am just happy.”

In the 400 meter final, fast start and a strong finish pushed Pinder in the lead. An extra gear made sure he never lost it. A Georgia runner, who closed within a step of the Aggie leader, pressed Pinder for the lead on the backstretch of the second lap.

And then Pinder left.

He surged forward and raced the finish to win in setting a new record for the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium.

“The 400 set me up mentally for my 4×4,” said Pinder, whose 1,600 relay split was 44.94. “It got me strong, mentally. I had a bad season in the beginning but I finished strong and I’m very proud of that.”

The entire Island of Grand Bahama is also proud.

By BUSTER LAING