Home|Sports|Taylor puts on show at conference championshipsSports
Simba FrenchSend an emailFebruary 20, 2023 140 2 minute readFacebookTwitterLinkedInShare via Email
Bahamian collegiate swimmer Lamar Taylor wrapped up action for the Henderson State University Red Wave at the New South Intercollegiate Swim Conference (NSISC) Championships at the Ronald G. Mayers Aquatic Center in Cleveland, Mississippi, over the weekend. Taylor and the Red Wave placed second overall.
Action got underway on Wednesday and wrapped up on Saturday. The Red Wave finished with 917 points while Delta State University won with a total of 1,007.50 points.
Taylor got an automatic qualifying time for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II (DII) Championships in the 100-yard freestyle on Saturday. He finished second in the final behind his teammate, graduate student Jack Armstrong. Taylor clocked a blistering 42.81 seconds, improving on his preliminary time of 43.44 seconds. He had splits of 20.66 and 22.15 seconds. Armstrong won with a time of 42.55 seconds. Delta State’s Tucker Schroer was third after swimming a time of 43.94 seconds.
Taylor, a junior, picked up an individual victory on Friday night and also a win in a relay event. He got the victory in the 100-yard backstroke when he touched the wall in a blistering 46.88 seconds to swim a NCAA DII Invite time, improving on his preliminary time of 47.78 seconds. Taylor’s splits were 22.39 and 24.49 seconds. His closest competitor was last year’s winner, Delta State’s Berk Ozkul who clocked 48.24 seconds. Finishing third was Delta State’s Emanuel Fava who posted a time of 48.48 seconds.
Later that night, Taylor anchored the Red Wave’s 200-yard free relay team to victory in a pool and conference record time, and also a NCAA DII consideration time, of 1:18.89. The previous pool record was 1:19.52 while Taylor and the Red Wave held the previous conference record of 1:19.75. Taylor’s split on Friday night was the fastest on the team – 18.90 seconds. His teammates in that race were Armstrong, Jase Pinckney and Tim Holt.
Ouachita University was second with at time of 1:22.22 and they were followed by Delta State who were third in 1:22.98.
Taylor was also in the pool for the 100-yard fly, powering his way to an NCAA DII invite time of 47.21 seconds as he went below his heat time of 47.74 seconds. His third place finish helped complete a sweep for a Red Wave in that event. Armstrong won the race with a time of 46.39 seconds and Pinckney was second when he touched the wall in 47.21 seconds.
Taylor and the Red Wave’s 400-yard medley relay team of Mark Eberhard, Pinckney and Armstrong had no competition in the pool and so they had to chase records and the NCAA DII Championships qualifying time. In the end, they clocked 3:12.13 which was a new pool record and an NCAA DII ‘B’ consideration time. It was also a new school record as Henderson State repeated as champions in that event.
The University of Montevallo was second with a time of 3:18.18. Delta State was third as they swam 3.18.34.
Taylor started his performances at the meet, swimming in the 50-yard free. The shorter sprints in the freestyle is what he excels in the most. He did not disappoint as he powered his way to win that event in a time 19.24 seconds. He had a better swim in the preliminaries in which he swam 19.10 seconds to set a school, conference and pool record, and also went under the NCAA DII qualifying time. He lowered his own school and conference record and has the fastest time in that event in NCAA DII rankings.
Finishing second to Taylor was his teammate Armstrong who clocked 19.57 seconds. Placing third was Delta Sate’s Tucker Schroer who clocked 20.05 seconds.
Next up for Taylor and the Red Wave is the NCAA DII Championships, set for Wednesday March 8 to Saturday March 11, at Indiana University Natatorium in Indianapolis, Indiana.