Dear Athletes
Bahamas Aquatics has previously advised you that Swimmers who qualify for BOTH CAC and CCCAN will be able to participate in ONE of these meets only.
Although the qualifying period ranges from 2017, swimmers who have no qualifying swims in the data base SINCE Summer 2017 will ordinarily not be considered for either team. HOWEVER, In the event you have qualifying times in the top 2 in LCMs and have only participated in SCYs this swim year, we will consider the SCY times, but only to prove fitness and not for team selection process. In other words, if you qualified LCM first or second last summer and have not participated in any LCM meets this year, but have participated in SCYs, we will quickly run a conversion of your SCY times to confirm that these times meet the Qualifying Standards and you can then be considered for team selection purposes using your summer 2017 times. It is safe to say that in the event you have not participated in a meet this swim year, and have summer 2017 Qualifying Times only in the data base, you will likely not be considered for any of the two teams.
The current CCCAN and CAC Qualifiers are concurrently being posted on the Bahamas Aquatics website and are attached to this note also.
Please note that after or before BOC Ratification, the CAC Organizing Committee, jointly with the CCCAN Technical Committee will confirm the 226 athletes who can compete in CAC 2018 and this is expected to happen after June 17th, 2018. As you have probably figured out, the CCCAN Championships cut off date will be before this period and please note that CCCAN entries are due by May 15, 2018 to CCCAN. Our CUT OFF date for both meets will therefore HAVE TO BE Saturday, May 12, 2018, or earlier, and we will advise with more certainty in due course if this date is moved up.
Please carefully note that according to the process being used this year by CAC, although an athlete may have a Bahamas Aquatics A or B Qualifying CAC Time, it does not mean that the Athlete will be approved for CAC 2018 by these committees. I admit that this is a bit unusual and somewhat confusing; however, this is the process and we have to follow it as mandated by CAC/CCCAN. The challenge will be that we have a May 15, 2018 deadline for CCCAN entries to be submitted, and CAC does not confirm the INVITED athletes until June 17th, 2018; we therefore have to try and balance both variables to ensure that we do not recommend an athlete for CAC, instead of CCCAN, and the athlete is not approved by CAC /CCCAN to compete in the CAC Games. Further, it is the case that the Bahamas Olympic Committee will have to also RATIFY all athletes we have recommended for CAC; however, we do not expect any unusual challenges in this regard.
If an athlete wants to be considered ONLY for CAC or CCCAN, please advise Bahamas Aquatic by April 30, 2018. In the event we do not hear from you, we will follow the process advised in this communication. Please note that it is not an option for SUBVENTED ATHLETES WHO HAVE QUALIFIED TO MISS THE RECOMMENDED MEET.
In the event you require any further clarity, please do not hesitate to contact me. In the meantime, Bahamas Aquatics Coaches are requested to circulate this communication to their clubs and we will also forward to the Bahamas Aquatics Council for information purposes.
Algernon Cargill
President, Bahamas Aquatics