Sports

Blue Waves Head Coach: Expectation Is To Do Better Than We Did Last Year

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – The Blue Waves Swim Club is gearing up for the 53rd Annual National Swimming Championships.

Published

8 months ago

June 15, 2025

Sasha Lightbourne

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – The Blue Waves Swim Club is gearing up for the 53rd Annual National Swimming Championships. Coach Dellan Brown and assistant coach Drew Lightbourne discussed their preparation during one of their final morning practices at the Betty Kelly Kenning Aquatics Center. The team, based at St. Anne’s Anglican High School, has ramped up their training and also brought in a sports psychologist to help with mental preparation.

Dellan Brown – Head Coach, Blue Waves Swim Club
“We have ramped up our preparation about three weeks ago, and we gave it a test run in the Mako meet to see where we were at before shutting it back down to get ready for nationals.”

Dellan Brown – Head Coach, Blue Waves Swim Club
“As usual, every year we bring in a sports psychologist to talk to the team, get them on that mental side, race prep, how to deal with anxiety, all those kinds of things.”

Drew Lightbourne – Assistant Coach, Blue Waves Swim Club
“We’ve just been working on starts, turns, finishes, everything basically, anything to do with swimming in and out of the pool.”

The team finished fourth last year with 940 points and aims to improve this year.

Dellan Brown – Head Coach, Blue Waves Swim Club
“To do better than we did last year, and at the end of day four, wherever that takes us, we thank the Lord for it.”

Drew Lightbourne – Assistant Coach, Blue Waves Swim Club
“With kids, they tend to forget, so repetition is key, so we did nothing new this morning; it’s just making sure they do what they already know.”

The championships begin on Thursday, with the opening ceremonies slated for Friday evening. Be sure to tune into the OUR TV network for live coverage of the evening sessions beginning at 6 p.m. on channels 205 and 212, as well as the OUR News social media pages.