By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

It wasn’t the type of performance he expected, but swimmer Izaak Bastian will leave Tokyo, Japan, with a life-long experience as a 2020 Olympian.

In completing his debut yesterday in the Tokyo Aquatic Centre, Bastian finished the men’s 200 metre breaststroke in a time of two minutes and 17.40 seconds for fifth place in the first of five heats for 36th place overall.

Panama’s Tyler Christianson Bernhard won the heat in 2:13.41. The fastest qualifier was Australia’s Izaac Stubblety-Cook in 2:07.37.

To add to his account in his debut at the delayed four-yearly games, Bastian opened competition on Saturday for the two-member Bahamas swim team with an eighth place in the men’s 100m breaststroke in 1:01.87 for 40th place overall.

“Overall performances, obviously I didn’t go best times, but I went out there and give it my best, which is all I could do,” Bastian said. “Sometimes it just doesn’t work out in your favour and this meet it just didn’t. Unfortunately, it’s at the Olympics, but it’s the nature of the sport. So we move on.”

Despite not performing better than he anticipated, Bastian said he certainly enjoyed the ride.

“At the end of the day, it’s just swimming. You come to these big meets, but you have to have fun with it,” he stated. “You can’t take anything too seriously, or it will take over and it’s not really a great thing progressing in the sport.”

The 20-year-old, however, will use the experience to propel him as he prepares to head back to Florida State University to continue his swimming career.

“It was a pretty positive experience even with all of COVID-19 restrictions and stuff like that,” he pointed out. “Because it’s such an iconic event, the Olympics is household and being an Olympian, everyone knows what that means, so being a part of something like this is very valuable, something that no one will ever be able to take away from me.”

With the hectic schedule and routine to get to the games, Bastian said it’s now time to take advantage of some much needed rest and relaxation at home.

“I’m going to go home and I’m going to take some time off for myself and just be with my family for a little bit,” he stressed.

Joining two-time Olympian Joanna Evans on Team Bahamas, which also consist of 14 athletes, who will start competition on Friday, Bastian said he had a lot of fun being around the Grand Bahamian swimming sensation.

“Being on the same team with Joanna was a pleasure. She’s a great team-mate,” he pointed out. “She’s very inspiring. She had a lot of wisdom for me. She’s been here before and she’s done a lot of great things in the sport. She was very helpful and very friendly. She wasn’t mean or anything. It was a great experience being here with her to look after me.”

One of the most intriguing thing that Bastian encountered in his first trip was the Games Village environment.

“In today’s society, it’s pretty much isolated with everybody dealing with Covid-19, but just seeing people walking around and doing stuff was quite comforting,” Bastian said.

And even though they had to compete with virtually no fans in the stands, Bastian said it’s something that he got accustomed to doing since Covid-19 broke in 2020, so it’s something that he’s gotten used to experiencing.

“You can’t change that. You just have to go with it,” he proclaimed. “I wouldn’t want to say that it doesn’t make a difference. It definitely makes a difference not having fans, but at this point, I think I’ve gotten used to it.”

As he look ahead to the future and the possibility of turning for his second Olympic experience in three years now in Paris, France from July 24 to August 11, 2024, Bastian said he just have to believe in his ability to go out and swim his own race and not anybody else.