By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

LONDON, England: After a full week’s rest in the games village, Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace woke up with an adrenaline rush that sent a shock wave through the Aquatics Centre this morning as the Bahamas began its competition at the 2012 Olympic Games.

Not only are the Chinese and Americans here to swim well, so is the lone Bahamian competitor, who wasn’t even aware that she swam as fast as she did.

Competing in lane seven in the sixth of seven heats in the Women’s 100M Freestyle in the first event of the day on Wednesday, Vanderpool-Wallace was the first to dip into the pool with a reaction time of 0.65.

After touching the wall in first place in her 50 free split in 28.13, Vanderpool-Wallace was untouchable on the back to the finish line. She came through at the wall in 53.73 seconds for a new Bahamian national record.

Her old record was 54.28 that she set in concluding her four-year sting as a member of Auburn’s Tigers swim team this year. 

The time was also the 13th best time recorded so far this year and was the fastest ever done by any Caribbean swimmer of all-time, but just shy of the lifetime achievement of 53.30 in the region by American D Vollmer on July 31, 2009.

In the process, Vanderpool-Wallace qualified for the semifinal that will be held at 2.40pm today with the sixth fastest time.

After the race she Tweeted: “Thanks for all the support this morning!! Excited to go back tonight and see what else I can do!!”

Speaking to The Tribune she said: “I wanted to execute well. I wanted to go into the first 50 as confident as possible and come out of the wall as fast as I could and that is what I did,” she said this morning.

When asked if she was aware of her fate, Vanderpool-Wallace said: “No. But I wanted to be right there in the top eight going into the semifinal and that was what I did.”

As she looked ahead to the semis, she said: “It’s a couple of things that I know I did wrong in that race and I still have a lot left in the tank, so I’m going to go as fast as I can.”

Even though it wasn’t a ‘perfect race’ for the NCAA champion from Auburn University, Vanderpool-Wallace said once she and personal coach Brett Hawke sit down, they will discuss what went wrong and hopefully make the adjustment.

“I’m really excited because I know I can really go faster in the semifinals,” she said.

For now, Vanderpool-Wallace just wants to bask in her early success.

“All year I’ve been working on a few things and so I’m ready to go faster,” she said. “Anything could happen in the semifinal. I’m just going to go out and see what happens.”

Vanderpool-Wallace said she felt the vibe from the Bahamians waving flags and cheering for her in the stands.

Among those present were Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture, Dr Daniel Johnson and his Director of Sports, Tim Munnings; Bahamas Olympic Committee president Wellington Miller and his secretary general Romel Knowles; chef de mission Roy Colebrooke and Bahamas Swimming Federation president Algernon Cargill.

“What was so impressive with the swim was how focused Arianna is,” Cargill said. “She’s been eating very smart, she’s been resting and she’s ensuring that she represents the Bahamas and her family very well.

“What was so exciting for us was to see her swim a national record and the fastest time by any swimmer in the Caribbean region. So we’re very, very happy with her performance. No Caribbean swimmer has ever gone under 44 seconds and she’s certainly one of the few elite swimmers to go under that time.”

In comparison to track and field, Cargill said Vanderpool-Wallace’s time was equivalent to a 10 seconds race ran by the men. With a reaction time of 0.65 that was the same as two other competitors with only four others faster, Cargill said Vanderpool-Wallace sets herself up for a great performance the rest of the meet.

Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Dr Daniel Johnson was smiling from ear to ear as he watched the fantastic opening performance from swimmer Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace.

“It was fabulous. It was a great atmosphere. Arianna, as the only swimmer for the Bahamas, walks into this $700 million complex with thousands of people cheering on and front of a group of Bahamians here cheering her on, in the first race of the day, she was electrifying,” he said.

“What comes to my mind is that with the Bahamas being a place surrounded by water, a nation that is 90 per cent water, I want to see more sailing, more swimming and some diving at more international meets like these,” he said.

“That’s way comes to my mind when I watch her performance in this beautiful pool. The diving section reminds of the beautiful waters in the Exuma Cays and Cat Island and North Andros. There’s no reason why we can’t have a major presence in swimming and Arianna is certainly setting the stage for that to happen.”

Chef de mission Roy Colebrooke was ecstatic about the performance of Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace, saying: “The whole Bahamas are proud of Arianna’s performance this morning. She surpassed the time that she qualified to come here, setting a national record in the process. I spoke with her coaches and they say she’s looking good.

“We’re just excited about what is to come. We believe that she’s going to be doing some remarkable performances in swimming today and in all of her events. So when you look at it, we’re just anticipating some great things from Arianna in those 2012 London Olympic Games.”