Home|Sports|Culmer-Taylor making waves in swimmingSports
She becomes first Bahamian woman to officiate at the world championships
Simba FrenchSend an emailAugust 2, 2023 23 1 minute readFacebookTwitterLinkedInShare via Email
The Bahamas had four swimmers in the pool at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, but on the deck of the Marine Fukuoka Hall A making history for the country was Gena Culmer-Taylor as the first Bahamian female to officiate at a world championships in swimming.
To the spectators who frequent the pool at local meets at the Betty Kelly-Kenning National Swim Complex in Nassau, Culmer-Taylor is no stranger as she could be be heard on the megaphone frequently, starting races. She is a staple to the swimming community in The Bahamas and she said it was a great experience for her in Japan.
Culmer-Taylor has been officiating for 10 years and had a busy time at the eight-day world championships that ended on Sunday as she was on deck for all of the sessions – morning and night.
“This has been an amazing experience. I am proud to represent Bahamas Aquatics and The Bahamas at the world championships. I am committed to helping more Bahamian females advance as World Aquatics certified officials,” Culmer-Taylor said.
Her duties included working in the call room, turn judge on both the start and turn side of the pool, and chief inspector of turn on the start side.
Culmer-Taylor is no stranger to officiating at international competitions as she served during the CARIFTA Swimming Championships in Willemstad, Curaçao, earlier this year.
Culmer-Taylor has been involved in the sport for more than 25 years and is a current executive on the Bahamas Aquatics Federation’s board, serving her first term as a member-at-large. She thanked Bahamas Aquatics Federation President Algernon Cargill for supporting her in advancing the sport. She is the mother of national record holder Lamar Taylor who was in action at the world championships.
Apart from Taylor, the team included Zaylie-Elizabeth Thompson, DaVante Carey and Rhanishka Gibbs. Overall, there were five national records broken – three individual and two relays. There were seven personal best times recorded and each of the four Bahamian swimmers set at least one personal best time.
A total of 10 world records were broken at the meet and there were 2,361 total athletes from 191 countries and also the World Aquatics Refugee Team.