Sunday, August 21, 2005

Bernie Butler Basra Marathon

The 35th Annual Bernie Butler Basra Marathon was held on the 20th of August 2005, at Lucayan Beach on GBI. This two mile open water swim attracts swimmers from around the globe! It is a major fund rasier for BASRA Grand Bahama. It encompasses the two mile race and shorter distances for younger swimmers.

This year over a hundred swimmers participated. The first three males to finish were: John Bradley and Micheal McIntosh of Grand Bahama (YMCA) and Cleveland W. Eneas III (Dolphins) of New Providence. The first three female finishers were: Michelle Hunt (YMCA), Kadesha Culmer (FAC) and Sabrina Barry all from Grand Bahama. The top time was 30:09.

Mr. Robbie Butler must be congratulated as he has swum in all 35 marathons and his top time is yet to be beaten.

December 2003 News :

Tuesday, December 30, 2003

Pepsi Bahamas Ltd recently agreed to provide all National Team Swimmers with 2 cases of AQUAFINA Water monthly. Pepsi Bahamas’ Marketing Manager, Lisa Moree indicates that AQUAFINA guarantees consistent purity and great taste by means of a state-of-the-art purification process that includes reverse osmosis. We give you water that's guaranteed to be pure. No added flavors or fizz. No added minerals, colors or unwanted impurities. These processes are what allow Pepsi-Cola Company to guarantee our consistent purity and great taste.
Algernon Cargill, BSF President received the initial month’s supply of water on behalf of the swimmers and commented that this new relationship with AQUAFINA bodes well for the extended linkages that Federation is developing with Corporate Bahamas to ensure that swimmers’ accomplishments are showcased and they receive some benefit as a result of making a National Team. He expects the relationship with Pepsi and AQUAFINA to develop into a stronger partnership with many AQUAFINA branding opportunities for swimwear and training gear. It seems a natural fit for the Bahamas Swimming Federation to develop this relationship with AQUAFINA!
There are approximately 40 National Team Members that will benefit from this partnership.

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Thursday, December 18, 2003


So what does it take to be a Champion? That is the question we would all like to have answered. What do I need to do to win? What is the secret? I have been swimming most of my life and have had my share of trials and successes. I am writing this letter to tell you that I have the answer! Yes, I know the secret to being a champion. Here it is: The secret is, in fact, that there is no secret at all. There are no short cuts, no information that you haven’t heard already, no secret formula for success. You already have what it takes to be a champion. Truly believing is your first step to making it a reality. I want to share three more steps with you that I believe are important keys to finish answering that question.

Attitude
In order to be a winner you need to have a winning attitude. One of the biggest misconceptions about attitude is that it is an impulse or a reaction to a situation. If you think about it, attitude is really a choice. We consciously decide what our attitude is going to be towards certain situations. If things are going well you decide to be in a good mood. If things are not going so well, somewhere along the way we make that decision to be in a bad mood. It is the same way with training: Easy workout = good mood. Hard workout = bad mood. So what if you decided to bring a positive attitude to a hard workout? What will happen is that your positive attitude will spread onto your teammates. That will create a more enjoyable training atmosphere, which will lead to harder training, which will lead to everyone getting better. All of this can happen by you making a simple choice to have a positive attitude. Now remember, this doesn’t mean that you are guaranteed a great workout everyday. You will have bad workouts, but a bad workout and a positive attitude still result in progress. A bad workout and a negative attitude result in regress.

Passion
Without passion there is nothing to drive you. No reason for a positive attitude. I love the word passion. When I think about passion I think about purpose, desire, energy, and goals. It is what’s inside you. Everyone always gets caught up in using talent as an explanation to a good swimmer. I believe that talent is simply one of many things that go into the making of a good swimmer. Passion is a large portion of those things. It is like the driver of a car. The driver is in control of this powerful machine and he or she decides which direction to steer it and how hard to push the engine. I like to think that my passion is the driver of a high performance sports car. (One built for long distances of course!) That passion drives me with engines revved high in the direction of my goals and everyday I see myself getting closer to them. I strongly encourage you not only to make goals for yourself, but to write them down. Write them as an affirmation. “I will…” Post those goals in places where you will see them and be reminded of them everyday. Bring energy and desire into your workouts to feed your positive attitude, which will enrich your purpose of meeting your goals.

Work
Finally we come to the most important step. I put this one last because to truly take this seriously you need to understand and believe in the first two. I’m sure everyone knows that it takes hard work to get things done. Practice makes perfect, right? Not exactly, practice may make good, but it takes perfect practice to make perfect. Just showing up at the pool everyday and not missing a workout isn’t going to get you your goals. If you think it will, you need to reassess your goals. You simply need to give it up in workouts. With a positive attitude and a passion to reach your goals, you will find working hard to be a very different experience from anything you’ve done in the past. World famous swimmer Grant Hackett was quoted to say when swimming his race, the 1500free, “I go hard until it hurts, then I push it even harder.” Czechoslovakian track star Emil Zatopek is the only Olympian to win the 5,000, the 10,000, and the marathon all in the same Olympics. He is quoted to say, “I run until I hurt; that’s when I begin my training program. I’ve learned that if I can just get beyond fatigue, there is a reserve of power that I never dreamed I had, and then I go on to run my best races.” Most of us are afraid to enter into the fatigue stage. Here is a guy that pushes himself beyond fatigue! Remember, pain is temporary, it goes away. I challenge you to invite it into your workout everyday.

Integrate these three steps into your training and you will be a better swimmer. I want to see the swimmers of the Bahamas rise to a new level. Make a move, then grab someone else and take them along for the ride! If you have any questions or comments I would be more than happy to hear from you. Contact me. Forward, Upward, Onward, Together.

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Tuesday, December 9, 2003

Nassau’s world class aquatics center, Betty Kelly-Kenning Aquatic Center (BKKAC) continues to attract competitive swimmers at all levels during the mid-winter period with over 300 swimmers coming at various times beginning December 26th and ending with the University of Connecticut’s departure January 18th.
Elite clubs Swim Atlanta and Mason Makos (DC) will train between Christmas and New Years. NCAA Division 3 teams Wabash College, University of Scranton and Carnegie Melon University will train through January 9th with men’s and women’s teams as well as Division 1 women’s teams Butler University and Marshall University.
Swim Atlanta will have the largest group, approximately 100 swimmers, and were contracted by ANT Tours. The University of Connecticut’s men’s and women’s teams will spend the longest period, 13 days beginning January 5th.
“We believe that this kind of sports tourism is attractive to the Bahamas,” says Lee Frederick, president of Sport Tours International, Inc. who is bringing the other eight teams. “The pool acts as the magnet for the production of over 2000 room nights, plus these athletes eat large and enjoy local excursions.”
An additional benefit of this kind of tourism is that Bahamian swimmers can observe and actually participate in the visitor’s training sessions. “Since there are all levels of training, any swimmer wishing to push their personal envelope can always jump in the water and join the intervals,” adds FredericK. “These coaches encourage the serious Bahamian athletes to train with their teams. On the flip side, a local elite swimmer might catch the eye of a coach well enough to win a scholarship.”
Algernon Cargill, president of the Bahamas Swimming Federation, has been working with the comprehensive schedule during its busier times to ensure that local teams wanting to train during the school break will get their time. Cargill welcomes the foreign team for the obvious synergistic benefits but has indicated that the Federation is focused on ensuring that the local swimmers are not displaced during this period and have every opportunity to train either along with the foreign teams or individually with their clubs at convenient times. Cargill added that this annual trek by the foreign swimmers to the Bahamas can create many opportunities for local swimmers and he has requested profiles of local swimmers in grades 11 and 12 from their coaches to share with the foreign coaches to possibly secure scholarships for Bahamian swimmers and/or training opportunities. He concluded that the Federation will work with the foreign teams and the various sports management groups; however, his first focus is to ensure that the local swimmers have the immediate benefit of the BKKAC pool facilities and are not denied access to the facilities which has happened in the past.
All parties have pledged their energies to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity for The Bahamas and local swimmers. This is a first trip to The Bahamas by many of these swimmers and coaches and they will hopefully return in the short term with their families or friends as longer term visitors and/or rave about swimming in The Bahamas as either a recreational vacation and/or exciting experience – whichever way we look at it, The Bahamas and Bahamian swimmers can benefit from the foreign teams.

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The Bahamas Swimming Federation is partnering with Chris Illing to introduce Water Polo to both male and female swimmers in The Bahamas. Chris, a former college water polo player, who has also represented his regional Düsseldorf team throughout Europe in water polo, and is a resident of the Bahamas, is excited about the vicarious continuance of his water polo career and has agreed to partner with the BSF to make this initiative a reality in the short term. The ASAJ (Amateur Swimming Association of Jamaica) has also agreed to partner with the BSF to ensure that we have Water Polo teams at the 2004 Carifta Games.

Swimmers and non-swimmers interested in learning about Water Polo -- which can lead to competing at The Carifta Games in 2004 and beyond --should advise their coach and/or contact the BSF at info@bahamasswimmingfederation.com

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The 2004 CARIFTA Games return to Nassau, Bahamas, and will be held during the weekend after Easter, April 15 to April 18, 2004. This event is also a FINA “A” and “B” Olympic Qualifying event and invitations are going out to 18 Federations to compete in swimming, water polo, and synchronized swimming. Jamaica is the 2003 CARIFTA Champion and will have teams competing in all disciplines.
The Federation is developing a website specifically for the Games and participating countries are encouraged to use this means to obtain all CARIFTA updates.

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