By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net    

THE first of the three Bahamas Aquatics teams to compete in international competition got started yesterday at the FINA LCM World Championships at the OCBC Aquatic Centre at the Singapore Sports Hub in Singapore.

Mark-Anthony Thompson, one of four members of the team, managed by Georgette Albury with Travano McPhee as the coach, placed eighth in the third of eight heats in the men’s 100 metres breaststroke preliminaries.

He was eighth in a time of one minute and 6.56 seconds. He was well off his personal best of 1:05.24 that he posted at the Bahamas National Championships in 2023.

Man Hou Chad won the heat in 1:02.64, but that only placed him 46th overall, while Thompson was 66th. 

The fastest qualifier was Kirill Prigoda in 58.53 as he won the second heat.

“While Mark-Anthony didn’t have his best swim in the opener, we know he’s capable of more and will look to regroup as the meet continues,” McPhee said. 

“That said, we still have several swimmers yet to compete, and the energy within Team Bahamas remains high. 

“We’re confident in the strength and depth of our team, and we’re looking forward to seeing strong performances from our athletes throughout the rest of the competition.”

Team Bahamas will have today off but Thompson will be  back in action on Tuesday when he competes in the preliminaries of the men’s 50m breaststroke. He will be swimming in lane nine in the fourth of nine heats. He goes into the event with a lifetime best of 28.59 at the FINA Swimming World Cup in the United States in 2022.

The other members of Team Bahamas are Olympian Lamar Taylor, Thompson’s younger sister Zaylie-Elizabeth Thompson and Victoria Russell. Taylor will be next to compete in the men’s 100m freestyle heats on Wednesday, followed by the semifinal and the final. Zaylie-Elizabeth Thompson will compete in the women’s 100m freestyle on Thursday. 

On Friday, Taylor will be entered in the 50m freestyle and Victoria Russell will be in the 50m butterfly. And on Saturday, Taylor will be back in the 50m backstroke and Russell in the 50m freestyle. 

If they advance, Taylor and Russell will close out competition on the final day on Sunday in the final of their respective events.

On the heels of that trip, Taylor will head the Bahamas six-member team that will compete at the 2025 Junior Pan American Games in Paraguay from August 0-15.

In addition to Taylor, the other team members are Emmanuel Godson, Marvin Johnson, Elyse Wood, Nigel Forbes and Zoe Williamson. The team manager is Karen Johnson and the coach is Ivaniuska Dreke.

The final team to represent The Bahamas will be a six-member team that will compete at the 2025 World Aquatics Junior Swimming Championships.

The championships will take place from August 13-24 from Romania, Otopeni.

The team will be managed by Andrea Longley and coached by Mancer Roberts Jr. The other members of the team are Ellie Gibson, Saleste Gibson, Zoe Williamson, Caden Wells, Ayrton Moncur and Tristen Hepburn.