By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE Barracuda Swim Club, preparing to compete this weekend in Plantation, Florida, used the Bahamas Swimming Federation’s season opening Family Guardian Invitational to get ready for the US meet.

At the Betty Kelly Kenning Swim Complex on Friday and Saturday, the Barracuda won the two-day meet to kick off the BSF’s 2016/17 season.

They ended up with a grand total of 5,709 points after racing in events staged across the board, from the 50 metre to 800m freestyle.

Their nearest rivals were the Alpha Aquatic with 1,697 while the Dolphins Swim Club rounded out the top three with 1,634.50. Finishing fourth was Swift Swimming with 1,634.50 and Team Orca closed out the top five in the standings with 674.

“We are leaving on Wednesday for Plantation so some of the kids are using the meet to prepare to see what they need to work out before we leave,” said Barracuda’s coach Travano McPhee.

“We have about 22 swimmers going to one of the biggest meets in Florida, so we are pretty excited about that. We have some away who are also expected to be competing in the meet too, so that is very exciting for us.”

McPhee said the meet was a long one over the weekend with Grand Bahama coming to town.

“The performance was good. We had some outstanding performances, especially in the 9-10 divisions. Thy surpassed their best times so that is very good. They were looking forward to the rest days so we can focus on some fast swims in Florida. But I liked what I saw from the swimmers and it showed that we are ready to go to Plantation to compete this weekend.”

With this being the first meet for the BSF season, many of the swimmers were excited about their performances.

Eleven-year-old Cuffy-Bethel, who attends Queen’s College, was thrilled not only with herself but also with the other competitors.

“It was a struggle for me because it was the first meet of the year, but I feel we could all be comfortable with ourselves,”said Cuffy-Bethel. “I could have done a little better, but I’m proud of myself.”

For Forbes, it was good to come from Grand Bahama and pull of another victory.

“It was good. It nice. I though I could have done better, but I was pleased with whatever I did,” said Forbes, the 11-year-old student of the Grand Bahama Academy. “I liked the 100m breast.”

Bartlett, a 13-year-old grade eight student at St Anne’s School, said the hard work paid of for him.

“It was good. It was hard. It took a lot of hard work and determination,” said Bartlett, who enjoyed the 50 fly and 200m free the most. They were the events that I dropped the most times.”

Moncur, a 9-year-old student of Queen’s College, said it was good to get the meet under his belt.

“It was great. It was a great experience and I liked how tough and difficult it was to make me train harder and tougher so I know what I need to do to get ready for the next meet,” said Moncur, who had some outstanding performances in the 50m free and 50m fly.

Swimming in a 100m back for the first time in a long time,, a 14-year-old MacPhail, who attends St. Andrew’s School, said the event just as well as her performance overall.

“It was really good for me. It was good to get back in the water after not swimming for a while,” she said. “It was nice to get back in the water and compete again and at the same time, spend some fun time with my friends.”

She wasn’t the high point winner in her age group, but Munnings said it was just like she won.

“It was good. I’ve never swum that fast to get a high point trophy before,” said Munnings, a 13-year-old eighth grader at Queen’s College. “I believe I can now swim faster than I did today. I enjoyed the 50m free, the 200m IM and the 100m breast.”