George Bovell smashes American swim record

TRINIDAD and Tobago swimmer George Bovell on Thursday broke two records for his American university in the National Collegiate Athletic Asso-ciation (NCAA) swimming competition in Texas.

Bovell smashed the US record for the 200-yard Individual Medley with a time of one minute 42.60 seconds which was also better than the American record set by Nate Desing close to 100 years ago. The feat was lauded yesterday by national swimming coach Anil Roberts who has coached Bovell at the Piranha Club. “It is one of the greatest swimming accomplishments in our history and rivals the performance of Mark Andrews 14 years ago,” said Roberts, Sports Co-ordinator in the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs. Andrews won a bronze medal for TT in the Pan American Games in Cuba in 1991 but later switched allegiance to Canada where he now resides. Roberts said the achievement of Bovell is all the more remarkable since he is deemed a better long-course swimmer but the impressive showing in the shorter event augers well for his preparation for upcoming international competitions.

Roberts said Bovell is sure to be a top gold medal contender at the World Championships in Barcelona, Spain in July and the Pan American Games in the Dominican Republic. “Bovell was not very strong in the breaststroke. In the butterfly and backstroke he was on world record pace but faltered at the 2001 World Championships in Japan but it is good to see he has improved immensely. They can’t possibly catch him now,” said an elated Roberts. He said the country should be proud of the achievement as Bovell is poised to lead Auburn University, the same American college attended by sprint sensation Darrel Brown, to a clean sweep in the swimming competition. Roberts said Bovell is getting a lot of support and is especially inspired by the presence of his father who is in Texas.