By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas Swimming Federation’s Royal Bank of Canada 43rd National Swimming Championships got off to a splash as Joanna Evans and Alec Smith set the stage on day one, winning the gruelling 800 and 1,500 metre freestyle races.

The endurance races highlighted Thursday night’s action at the Betty Kelly Kenning Swim Complex as more than 500 swimmers participating in the four-day meet will be gearing up the national team members for the various international meets this summer.

Evans, one of the stars of the historic, victorious CARIFTA Swim championship team who has her sights set on the Commonwealth Games next month in Glasgow, Scotland, easily dominated the women’s 800m in nine minutes and 9.06 seconds.

The Swift swimmer from Grand Bahama was followed by Dorian Reed of the Barracudas in 10:31.00. Miya Thompson of Swift came in third in 10:39.98.

“It was a good race. It was very hot, so a lot of people struggled through the heat, but in the end, everyone tried and did their best,” she said. “I didn’t come down here tapered to swim my best, so it was alright.”

Throughout the weekend, Albury is expected to compete in 13 individual events and four relays. In her second race of the night, she lost out to collegian Ariel Weech in the 200 IM.

Weech, the 2013 graduate of the University of Nebraska and a qualifier for the Commonwealth Games, won the combo of 50m butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle in 2:27.51. Evans trailed in 2:30.33 with Miriam Crispo of the Barracudas third in 2:40.61.

“It was good. It’s not my race, so there was no pressure,” Weech said. “I just wanted to have fun, The 200 IM is not fun, but it was just fun racing in it. I’ve been training in preparation for the Commonwealth Games, so although I have 10 events to compete in, I want to do my best. A lot of the young girls are doing well, so I hope they can push me.”

In the boys’ open 1,500m, Alec Smith was unchallenged as he touched the wall for the 30th time in the 50m pool in 18:04.16. Joshua Roberts of Swift Swimming came in second in 18:21.12 and his team-mate Kris Smith was third in 19:36.80.

“It was fun. I was just trying to have some fun competing in my first meet because I know it will be hard for the rest of the meet,” said Smith, who intends to swim 26 individual events as well as all of the relays. “I just have to swim smart. In the ones that I know I can win, I just have to go through it easily. The others I know I have to swim harder.”

After a short rest, Smith went down to his 13-14 age group where he picked up his second victory in the 200m IM in 2:21.61. Miller Albury from Grand Bahama was second in 2:24.14 and Tyler Russell of Swift was third in 2:24.50.

The first record posted at the meet came from Nigel Forbes of the Freeport Aquatic Club. He clocked 2:51.11 to win the boys 8-and-under 200m IM to shatter Clement Bowe’s mark of 3:07.39 that he set back in 1999.

“It was good. I went hard on the fly, kept my pace and work on my back and I did very well on the breast, so I knew I was going to bring it home strong in the free,” said the eight-year-old who has a total of seven events to compete in. “It feels very good to break this record.”

Other 200m IM winners were Abayomi Brown in the girls 8-and-under (3:21.41), Eleuthera Thompson from Freeport in the girls 9-10 (3:05.79), Lamar Taylor from Grand Bahama in the boys 9-10 (2:55.76), Amber Pinder of the Barracuda in the girls 11-12 (2:44.03), Izaak Bastian of the Barracuda in the boys 11-12 (2:29.67), Albury Higgs of Swift in the girls 13-14 (2:32.28) and Dustin Tynes of Swift in the boys 15-and-over (2:19.69).

“I didn’t execute the way I wanted to. That was why I was so dead at the end,” said Tynes after his victory. “I went out too hard in the first 100 in the fly and the back. That is not my strong points, so I didn’t have anything left in the breast and the free. I won but I wasn’t satisfied.”

While the CCCAN team is set to travel next week and the team for the Commonwealth Games has not yet been announced, BSF president Algernon Cargill said the meet will serve as a qualifier for the Central American and Caribbean Games and the Pan Am Games.

“So we expect for some of our swimmers who are out to achieve those goals will do very well,” Cargill said. “Also, the swimmers will be using this to get ready to compete next weekend in Barbados at the Caribbean Islands Swim Championships.”

With more than 500 swimmers registered, Cargill said it’s definitely the largest nationals held so far and the federation once again extends its gratitude to RBC for continuing to support their efforts with their $35,000 sponsorship.

Among those competing this weekend are elite swimmers Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace and Vereance Burrows.

After mixing his competition with a series of events out of the pool, including appearances on talk shows and serving as a judge at the Mrs America, Burrows said he’s excited to be back home.

“I don’t plan to peak for this meet, so it levels out the competition with some of the younger guys who actually peak for this meet,” Burrows said. “It’s always a good meet and so it’s always good to see friends and family when I come home. I’m just looking to having some fun.”

When the graduate of the University of Kentucky heads to Glasgow, Burrows said he should be in contention for a medal in the 50m butterfly. Burrows intends to move to Orlando to continue his training and compete on the swimming Grand Prix circuit.

The meet is slated to continue 9am today with the heats in a series of events. Those finals will take place in the evening session starting at 6pm. The same routine will be done on Saturday. Sunday will also have two sessions, but the evening session which starts at 5pm will close out the meet.