Three Virgin Islands swimmers traveled to Rome last month to represent the territory in the 2009 FINA World Championships, setting a host of personal bests in the process.
The meet took place at the Foro Italico Complex, site of the 1960 Olympic swimming competition. Approximately 1,700 athletes from 183 countries competed at the meet.
Competing for the Virgin Islands National Team were Bryson Mays, Ryan Nelthropp and Branden Whitehurst. Mays is a freshman at St. Croix’s Good Hope School. Nelthropp also has roots on St. Croix as a graduate of Country Day School. He will be a sophomore at Rider University in New Jersey. Whitehurst, another local, will be a sophomore at the University of Texas.
The meet was seen by team officials as a step forward on the international stage as nine of the eleven swims by the three V.I. swimmers were personal bests.
Whitehurst was the standout, setting six V.I. records and establishing personal best times in all swims.
The meet started with Whitehurst swimming the 50-meter butterfly in a time of 25.58 seconds, breaking the V.I .record by more than one full second. The previous record was set by Morgan Locke at the 2007 World Championships in Melbourne, Australia.
Whitehurst continued his record-setting ways on Day 2 in the 200-meter freestyle, breaking Kieran Locke’s record by two seconds with a time of 1:51.59.
Nelthropp contributed to a successful Day 2, beating his previous personal best in the 100 backstroke by two seconds. His time was 1:01.69
Day Three started and finished with a V.I. records by Whitehurst. He established a record in the 100 freestyle by swimming in 51.29 seconds. The previous record was 51.64 established by George Gleason and was set at the Pan American Games in 2003. Whitehurst concluded the day by setting a V.I. record in the 200 Individual Medley with a time of 2:06.05. Gleason had set the previous mark at the World Championships in Japan in 2001. In between Whitehurst’s records, Nelthropp bettered his previous best time in the 200 Individual Medley by more than five seconds.
Whitehurst dropped two seconds off his best time in the 50 freestyle on Day 5 of the meet, going 23.78 seconds. Nelthropp and Whitehurst next swam the 100 butterfly and both achieved personal bests. Nelthropp beat his previous personal record by more than a second and a half, Whitehurst by three seconds. Whitehurst’s swim set two V.I. records: his first 50 of the 100 set the V.I. 50 fly record and his final time was a V.I. record for the 100 meter event. His time of 55.46 broke Scott Hensley’s record of 2004 by three seconds.
The final day of competition, Day Eight, saw Mays swim his first race at the World Championship level. He was one of the youngest swimmers in the competition and swam his 400 Individual Medley in a time of 4:59.30.
He, and the rest of the V.I. National Team, are looking forward to the next championships in Shanghai, China in 2010.
Swimmers were able to spend several days after the meet visiting historic sites such as the Coliseum, Pantheon, and Vatican. The V.I. swimmer’s trips were funded by the International Swimming Federation, FINA. By meeting the qualifying standards set by the V. I. Swimming Federation, swimmers received the trip at no cost outside of their family.
“Our swimmers would not be where they are today unless their parents were dedicated to enriching their child’s lives through swimming. Parents play a huge role in helping children become successful swimmers by spending many hours driving swimmers to and from practice and meets, volunteering their time to organize and operate the many functions of a swim team and cheering on their children at meets. I appreciate their efforts on behalf of the Virgin Islands and hope more parents follow their lead” said V.I. coach Kevin Tyrrell.
