CARTER CONTINUES TO COLLECT MORE ACCOLADES FOR 2020 SEASON.DYLAN NAMED T&T OLYMPIC COMMITTEE SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR

Trinidad and Tobago’s aquatic standard bearer Dylan Carter continues to receive plaudits for his excellent performances for the year 2020. Carter was awarded the male Central American and Caribbean athlete of the year by the influential swimswam website . He had previously been awarded that distinction in 2018. The only other CARIFTA region swimmer to have won this award was his countryman the legendary George Bovell III in 2014.

Carter.Photo courtesy of the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee

The Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee named Dylan the Sportsman of the Year.He was awarded this honour for the first time in his career at the first ever virtual Awards on December 29. Carter gave his thoughts about the honour and the year 2020

“2020 provided unique challenges, no doubt.It’s been a challenging year for all. I took this year in stride and that attributed to my success. I think a lot of work was done earlier this year towards the Olympics, so the results I saw were as a result of just keeping my head in the game throughout the challenging middle of the year.I’m feeling very proud and would like to echo the theme of the awards which was resilience.”

For the last calendar year Dylan had the bulk of his competitive action in the bio secure bubble at the International Swimming League in Budapest , Hungary. Carter and Jamaica’s Alia Atkinson are the only CARIFTA region swimmer ever selected for the elite competition competed in the 25 metre pool. Dylan, ever keen to race the best in the World showed the importance of all his training with Team Elite and LA Current coach Dave Marsh.

Dylan prepares to race in the ISL

Highlights

He lowered his personal best in the 50 metre freestyle on four occasion

Match 1	21.51
Match 3	21.42
Match 5	21.36
Final	21.21

Carter celebrated wins for the first time in the ISL in the 400 metre freestyles. On both relays he was given the responsibility of anchor duties.The last relay win saw him holding off the world’s most dominant sprinter American sprinter Caleb Dressel to ensure victory for the LA Current.

Match 5	3:06.24	46.51
Semi final	3:04.78	46.71

Before this year’s ISL competition the following were the national records for the twin island Republic

Event	Time	Name	Date
100 freestyle	47.06	George Bovell III	March 2004
100 butterfly	52.81	Joshua McLeod	November 2012
100 backstroke	50.58	Dylan Carter	December 2018

They now stand at

Event	Time	Name	Date
100 freestyle	46.56	Dylan Carter	November 9,2020
100 butterfly	50.70	Dylan Carter	November 9,2020
100 backstroke	49.91	Dylan Carter	Novemeber 22,2020

What is especially significant is that these national records are also the unofficial standards for the CARIFTA region and CCCAN territories. Carter is the undisputed 100 metre backstroke leader as he is only person under 51 second and now he is under the 50 second barriers.

In the 100 metre butterfly he surpassed the regional best set by Shaune Fraser of the Cayman Islands at the 2013 Games of 51.06. The previous top times were held by Shaune and younger brother Brett 51.59 when they dominated the podium at the event in Devonishire Parish,Bermuda.

Cayman Islands Swimming legends Shaune and Brett Fraser Photo courtesy of Cayman Compass

Dylan also made history as the only swimmer to get under 47 seconds to lower Bovell’s regional mark

Goerge Bovell III Photo courtesy of sportsmax.tv

The oldest record of the three was set by Bovell in 2004 leading off the Auburn relay team. Auburn was at that time coached by the LA Current’s Head Coach Dave Marsh . Marsh won the Men’s NCAA Division Championship for five consecutive years with Auburn from 2003 to 2007. The relay team of Bovell,Ryan Wochomurka,Dereck Gibb and Frenchman Fred Bousquet set a World Best of 3:08.85 better than the World record of the day by the Swedish national team of 3:09.57. It did not count as a World Record because all of the team members were not of the same nationality.

2018 Sports Personality of the Year

A swimmer being hailed as the Sportsman of the Year has not happened since George won the award in back to back years 2003 and 2004. For Carter it is extra special as he has won his fourth national Olympic Committee honour in a different category. In 2013 he was the Junior Sportsman of the Year,in 2016 he won the People’s Choice award and in 2018 he was the Sports Personality of the Year.

FANTASTIC FORBES!NIGEL SETS 13-14 BAHAMIAN AND ENGLISH SPEAKING CARIBBEAN RECORD 100 METRE BUTTERFLY

Nigel receiving the 13-14 high point trophy at the 2020 UANA Championships in Peru

Despite the paucity of meets for the year 2020 Nigel Forbes’ class has always been seen when he steps on the blocks to compete. At the UANA Cup in February in Peru he gave a glimpse of what he could do in the 100 metre butterfly . He lowered the 2018 13-14 Championship record of 57.61 by Brazilian Gustavo Saldo to 57.28 to win the Gold. It was also the best CARIFTA region performance in the event bettering the fourth place by Grenadian Jenebi Benoit (1:00.77) and the best Bahamian placing seventh by countryman Lamar Taylor (1:01.87). In fact he was the only swimmer from the CARIFTA region in the top eight at the Championship in that race.What slipped under the radar due to the lock down caused by the COVID 19 pandemic is that he also became the fastest swimmer ever from English speaking Caribbean and CARIFTA states . This as he lowered that standard held by Trinidad and Tobago’s Kael Yorke of 57.40 set almost five years earlier.

Kael Yorke diving off the blocks in the heats of the 50 metre butterfly Photo courtesy of Harold Wilson

This region leading performance for Forbes is not unusual for him as he exited the 11-12 age group he bettered another 100 metre butterfly regional standard set by another swimmer from the twin Island Franz Huggins to 1:00.20

2018 SWIMMING ACHIEVEMENTS- NIGEL FORBES OF THE BAHAMAS LOWERS 11-12 ENGLISH SPEAKING BEST BUTTERFLY RECORD OF FRANZ HUGGINS OF TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

With most of the year’s competition lost due to corona virus restrictions such as CCCAN and CARIFTA the easing of rigid protocols towards the end of last year gave Nigel yet another opportunity to show the calibre of swimmer being produced in The Bahamas. He did not disappoint. Competing on December 12 he took the 13-14 100 metre butterfly where it had never been before, under the 57 seconds barrier, as he stopped the clock in 56.92.

13-14 NATIONAL RECORDS ACROSS THE REGION UNDER 59 SECONDS

Country	Name	Time	Year
The Bahamas	Nigel Forbes	56.92	2020
Trinidad and Tobago	Kael Yorke	57.40	2015
Suriname	Zuahyr Pigot	57.40	2012
Barbados	Bradley Ally	58.05	2001
Jamaica	Nathaniel Thomas	58.45	2019

Nathaniel Thomas Photo courtesy of Cheser Adams

Also at the meet in a great display of endurance he a major time in the 200 metre butterfly to 2:09.38.Both times were the fastest ever swum by a 13-14 boy in The Bahamas. The open record had already belonged to Nigel at 2:12.61. The longer butterfly record is also significant as it was tantalizingly close to the English speaking regional standard.

Shaune Fraser Photo courtesy of shaunefraser.com

That mark is held by Olympian , regional legend Shaune Fraser of the Cayman Islands at 2:09.34 set in March 2003. Fraser who was named to the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame last year is the the second CARIFTA region swimmer to win an NCAA title in the 200 yard butterfly after his coach Anthony Nesty and the only English Speaking Caribbean swimmer to lift that crown. He is only the CARIFTA region swimmer to win that title twice.

Name	200 yard butterfly
Anthony Nesty	1990
Shaune Fraser	2009
Shaune Fraser	2010

Draftingthecaribbean got the opportunity to speak to Nigel’s coach at the YMCA Waverunners Andy Loveitt. We got an insight about his philosophy in training the talented swimmer. Coach Loveitt spoke about his training sets

Nigel Forbes at the UANA Cup in Peru

“Nigel works on all four strokes and through 2020 as there were no high quality meets we did a lot of work on improving his backstroke for the 200 individual medley.He has a butterfly set in training every day in which we try to swim quality with short rest intervals.Some of the sets he will swim with the other butterfly swimmers in the group and others he will swim on his own.It is all towards working on the pace needed in his 100 and 200 metre butterfly. He does all his aerobic work on freestyle to avoid undue stress on the body.Nigel is still a developing swimmer and he now has a good grounding in all four strokes.His results at UANA in Peru were good and time will tell which events he will specialize in.At present he is really motivated by his times in the 200 metre butterfly and 200 metre individual medley.His training times are a great motivator when he is at the pool”

He also spoke about his expectation for Nigel at the year end meet

“For his last meet in the 13-14 age group together we decided to look at attempting to lower his Bahamian records in the 100 and 200 metre butterfly as the priority.Nigel managed that by lowering his 100 metre butterfly by 1.06 seconds to 56.92 and his 200 metre butterfly by 3.23 seconds to 2:09.38.He has worked hard on race pace splits for both butterfly events but lost a lot of opportunities to race in competition due to COVID.He knew he was stronger from his training times but a litte race rusty due to to a lack of opportunities to race against good quality opposition.Nigel knew he would be swimming his own race and I was pleased with how he swam both races lowering the Bahamian and Open records in both events .His splits in the 200 were

50	27.42
100	32.24
150	34.60
200	35.12

Considering he had not raced a 200 metre butterfly all year I was pleased with that but given given the right opportunity to race in quality fields Nigel will swim faster in 2021 as he continues to get stronger and how to pace himself better”.

Nigel powering through the 200 metre butterfly in 2019

He spoke to Nigel racing in the older age group this year

“Moving into the 15-17 age group will not be a major factor in Nigel’s training.It is a stepping stone as we create the mindset for him to be a strong senior swimmer.With his growth,increased strength and maturity we are already looking at what is required to compete in major meets in the future.We do not know how long COVID will affect competition so we are already looking to mid to long term goals as the short term is uncertain at this time.The Nassau meet gave the opportunity to look at his development in butterfly but we have not yet had the opportunity to see how his improvement in backstroke will affect his individual times”

Forbes is one of the exciting swimmers from the region to watch for the year 2021 and and given the the opportunity to compete will always give great account of himself ,his country and the CARIFTA territories.

DESPITE PANDEMIC BREAK BAHAMIAN LAMAR TAYLOR STILL SWIMMING IN TOP GEAR

The year 2020 should have been a great one for the CARIFTA region in terms of the 23 second barrier being threatened in the 50 metre freestyle at the CARIFTA Championships and sub 51’s recorded in the 100 metre event. One of the main swimmers on the radar to achieve those time standards was the speedy Lamar Taylor of The Bahamas.

Jacinto Ayala .Photo courtesy of diariolibre.com

There was much to look forward to for the sprints at the 2019 CCCAN Championships he was .01 off the 2005 record swim of 23.32 by Jacinto Ayala of the Dominican Republic . Earlier at CARIFTA he was the youngest swimmer in the 50 metre freestyle final and won the Bronze in a time of 23.59. Later in the session he was a part of Bahamian and CARIFTA Championship history as the team of Izaak Bastian, DaVante Carey,Kevon Lockhart and Taylor set the fastest time ever in the 200 metre freestyle relay clocking a record 1:35.18 . Leading off the relay Bastian set a new CARIFTA record of 23.25. At the 2019 World Junior Championships he was the highest placed CARIFTA region as he clocked 23.52 to place 31st overall.

Dylan Carter and Renzo Tjon a Joe

Only the reigning 2018 Central American and Caribbean Gold and Silver medallists Renzo Tjon A Joe of Suriname and Dylan Carter of Trinidad and Tobago have recorded faster times at the global Junior championships with times of 22.75 and 23.01 respectively.

Lamar Taylor at the 2019 World Junior Championships (Photo courtesy of Drew Bastian)

Lamar was looking towards the new year knowing record swims at CARIFTA and CCCAN were within his reach then came the pandemic…

We caught up with Taylor at his first meet the Mako Aquatic Club Time Trial on November 21 last year where he recorded times of 52.40 and 23.63. How did Lamar cope with the time off and how did he manage to achieve these times after the break?

Taylor took us those through the early days of the Covid 19 lockdown

“When I was away from the pool and everyone I fet very lost and trapped,just locked up.It basically felt like jail.I could not go out much.I was not happy ,I was upset I was tired,I was depressed I wanted to get out.I wanted to train and talk to my friends.It was driving me crazy seeing the same persons everyday”

Lamar gave an idea of how sporadic training was during quarantine

” I was out of the water for about two to three months. We started back training during the quarantine but it was not consistent.We swam for about two to three weeks straight and then we went back to lockdown . We have been swimming now for about three weeks”

He gave his insight on he started to re focus

When I was out of the water I took it as a break that everyone needed but could never get because as an athlete you never have any days off.Once you take a day off you will be behind as everyone will be in the pool or in the gym training getting faster than you.I never had a break so when we went on lockdown I took that as break from school and swimming. Not a complete break but I took advantage of that down time. I was not really doing much and I put on a lot of weight.I was really just relaxing meditating and listening to music. When We started back training again I took my free time a bit more seriously and tried to be more productive during those moments.Training was interrupted three times and by the third time I was very serious with meditation I was away from social media. I was training everyday, working out before and after swim practice.Any free time I could get I went out running and listening to music to block out the noise focus on my goals even through there were no meets being held I had my own personal goals I wanted to achieve will we were in practice.When we had this meet I took full advantage of that and prepared as much as I could and was suprised at the outcome with the times”

Lamar also spoke about how he felt about the times he swam

Travano McPhee .Photo courtesy of makoaquaticsclub.com

I feel really happy about the times that I swum.In the 100 metre freestyle I was extremely surprised about the time that I swum.The day before the meet we were practising and Coach (Travano McPhee) said your tempo looks good and you look fast but I was not feeling that way. When my mother asked me what time I was going to swim I said I do not really know because I do not know what fast feels like.I could not remember what 52 feels like I could not remember what 23 feels like. So I thought that when I swam it would hurt. In the race itself I got a good start and got off to a good pace and when I turned I felt it .The last ten metres I was really suprised and shocked at the time I went. My 100 freestyle came so easy and natural to me. The 50 metre freestyle was quite good as well despite the fact that I have never swum 23 in practice”.

Lamar looks at his time after the 50 metre freestyle at the 2019 World Junior Swimming Championships

Lamar has learnt to adjust to this uncertain times and have the mindset not just to survive but thrive. This is attitude that needs to displayed by our junior athletes to get their times to pre covid standards as we must adapt to change . Lamar is certainly one of those swimmers we look to to set the bar higher at the junior championship meets this year and as a freshman at Henderson State University that competes in the NCAA Division II.