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He swims new national record in 100m back at worlds; mixed medley team in action
Simba FrenchSend an emailJuly 27, 2023 7 2 minute readFacebookTwitterLinkedInShare via Email
The Bahamas’ senior swim team at the World Aquatics Championships had the day off on Tuesday at the Marine Messe Fukuoka Hall A in Fukuoka, Japan, and were back in action on Wednesday. All four swimmers were in the pool, competing in the 4×100 meters (m) mixed medley relay, and like he has been doing all season, lead-off swimmer Lamar Taylor set a new national record in his event. He saw the 100m back portion of the race.
Taylor swam a blistering time of 55.03 seconds to obliterate his previous national record of 56.47 seconds, which he set at the Bahamas Aquatics Federation’s National Swimming Championships in June. Rhanishka Gibbs jumped into the pool to swim the breaststroke leg.
Also on the relay team were Zaylie-Elizabeth Thompson and DaVante Carey. The quartet swam out of lane seven in the third heat and clocked 4:03.98. South Korea won that heat with a time of 3:47.09. Overall, The Bahamas finished with the 24th fastest time out of 42 countries.
Gibbs, the youngest of the team, made her debut at the global championships yesterday, posting a split of 1:15.42 on her breaststroke leg. Carey swam the butterfly leg and had a split of 54.80 seconds. Anchoring the team on the freestyle leg was Zaylie-Elizabeth Thompson. She had a split of 58.73 seconds.
Taylor had a great short course yards season, competing in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II. He won three national championships. He came home and swam in long course meters and did not miss a beat. Taylor set a national record in the 50m free with a time of 22.35 seconds at the swimming nationals. At that meet, he also set a new personal best national record of 56.47 seconds in the 100m back. He went on to win gold at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games in the 50m back in a new national record time of 25.08 seconds.
Thompson is the lone Bahamian swimmer in action today, competing in the women’s 100m free.
Taylor will compete in the men’s 50m free on Friday. Carey will swim in the 100m fly, and wrapping up a busy day for The Bahamas in the pool on Friday will be Gibbs in the 50m fly – her first individual race of the competition.
All four swimmers will be in action in the 4x100m mixed freestyle relay on Saturday. In individual action on Saturday, Gibbs will swim in the women’s 50m free and Taylor will swim in the 50m back.