OLYMPIAN Timothy Munnings along with Goodwill swimmer Isabella Munroe were in a tier of their own in August to be named this month’s Tribune Athletes of the Month.

The Tribune Sports Section will recognise the efforts of athletes across all sporting disciplines and award a top male and female candidate at the end of each respective month, culminating with the athlete of the year distinction.

While Munnings would prove that age is nothing but a number at the World Masters Athletics (WMA) Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden, Munroe represented well for the young ones at the 2024 Goodwill Swimming Championship in Gros Islet, St Lucia. 

Timothy Munnings - 

Male Winner

The old Bahamian adage “age een’ nothing but a number” took on a new meaning last week as Timothy Munnings emerged as a world champion for the second time in his athletics career at the WMA Championships.

Munnings, 58, clinched a gold-medal finish in the men’s 55-59 400 metres event at the Slottsskogsvallen & Ullevi Stadium. 

The decorated quarter-miler turned on the jets to power his way to a season’s best time of 53.05 seconds in the win. 

His victory marked the first gold medal finish for The Bahamas at the WMA Championships. 

Munnings competed six times in one week, including three rounds in the 200m event and another three rounds in the 400m event.

He was just as fortunate in the 200m sprints. The two-time World Champion secured the bronze medal in the men’s 55-59 200m finals. The 2001 World Outdoor relay gold medallist improved drastically throughout the three rounds of the event.

He opened round one with a winning time of 24.81 seconds to qualify for the semifinals with the third fastest time. Competing in the semifinals, Munnings lowered his previous time to 24.40 seconds to book a spot in the final round of competition.

He turned in his best performance in the finals, crossing the line third with a season’s best run of 23.83 seconds for bronze.

Isabella Munroe – 

Female Munroe

Isabella Munroe returned home from the 2024 Goodwill Swimming Championships with a haul of medals. 

Munroe accumulated a total of 12 medals (five golds, four silvers and three bronze medals). 

She was also one of four winners of the high point trophies with a final individual score of 77 points in the girls’ 9-10 division. 

If that was not enough, the Goodwill gold medallist set three new meet records in the process.

The 11-year-old dominated the girls’ 9-10 100m freestyle event to establish a new meet record. She swam away with gold in a record-breaking time of 1:03.42. 

She continued to put on a show in the girls’ 50m freestyle, touching the wall in a time of 29.08 seconds for first place.

Swimming out of lane two, Munroe pulled off a second place finish in the girls’ 9-10 100m butterfly, clocking 1:11.92 in the event for her third meet record. She earned gold medals in the 100m free, 50m breast, 200m IM, 100m breast and 50m free. 

Her four silver medals were picked up in the 50m and 100m back, 50m and 100m fly. 

Her three bronze medals all came in the 400m medley relay, 200m medley relay and 200m free relay.

Be on the lookout for September’s Tribune Athletes of the Month.