By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace made Bahamian history yet again and Joanna Evans continued her torrid pace on the year with another medal in international competition.

Action began in the pool for Team Bahamas at the 22nd Central American and Caribbean Games in Veracruz, Mexico, and the swimmers got the team off to a fast start with a pair of medals thus far.

Vanderpool-Wallace swam to a gold medal and new CAC Games record in 26.46sec in the women’s 50m butterfly. She surpassed her previous mark of 26.92s set in 2010 in Mayaguez, Puerto. Carolina Colorado of Colombia was second in 27.40s and Jesernik Pinto of Venezuela was third in 27.54s.

In 2010, Vanderpool-Wallace also became the first Bahamian swimmer to win a gold medal at the CAC Games.

Coming off an historic performance at the 20th Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, Vanderpool-Wallace’s silver medal performance in the women’s 50m fly of 25.53s had her pegged as the top qualifier for the CAC. She is also the top seed in the 50m free with a time of 24.34s and 54.37s in the 100m free.

Evans took silver in the women’s 400m freestyle in a time of 4:16.82s. Andreina Pinto of Venezuela finished first in 4:11.65s, while Natalia Jaspeado of Mexico was third in 4:17.43s.

Evans was only one of two athletes from the Caribbean to advance to the final, along with Lani Cabrera of Barbados, who finished eighth in 4:28.98s.

Evans advanced to the final when she took second in the opening heat of the meet in 4:22.91s. It was another accolade for the future University of Texas Longhorn who also won the country’s first medal at the Youth Olympic Games back in August.

Evans was the bronze medallist in the 800m free in a time of 8:39.75s at the event in Nanjing, China. She lowered her previous national record of 8:41.39s that she set at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.

Evans returned on day two to finish sixth in the women’s 200m freestyle final in 2:04.07s. Pinto took first place in 2:00.42s, followed by Jessica Camposano of Colombia in 2:00.68s and Elisbet Gamez of Cuba in 2:02.08s.

Also on day one, Margaret Higgs just missed the medal podium with a fourth place finish in the Women’s 100m breaststroke. Her time of 1:14.06s finished behind Karina Vivas of Venezuela (1:12.72s), Byanca Rodriguez of Mexico (1:10.97s) and Mercedes Toledo of Venezuela (1:10.83s).

In the women’s 50m backstroke, Ariel Weech finished seventh in 30.73s.

In the men’s 200m fly, Matthew Lowe finished eighth in 2:06.47s.

Cycling was the only other discipline in which Team Bahamas has competed in thus far.

Anthony Colebrook finished at No.20 in the men’s individual time trial in 1hr, 11min and 16.88sec.

The Bahamas Olympic Committee named a 65-member team with about 10 officials who are representing the Bahamas in Veracruz, Mexico.

The Bahamas will be participating in 10 different disciplines in rowing, athletics, men’s volleyball, sailing, swimming, cycling, judo, boxing, tennis and bowling, making this the largest team ever to compete. “We’ve had great success in these games overall,” said BOC president Wellington Miller, who heads the Bahamian delegation that will include chef de mission Cora Hepburn, who will be assisted by Ralf McKinney. “We are not only looking for athletes from the disciplines that normally win, but we are looking at the other disciplines that don’t normally win.”