Swimming In Paradise: Olympic Glory Is Coming, It’s Only a Matter of Time

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NASSSAU, BAHAMAS – The road to Olympic glory begins in earnest at the collegiate level and no one knows that better than Nic Askew – head swim coach at Howard University. 

He’s coached his fair share of Bahamians and knows the capabilities of our young swimmers. 

He identifies the lack of interest, outside of the Olympics as the first hurdle.  Askew has coached Howard swimmers since 1994.

But in the past few years he’s come here, to The Bahamas’, swimming nationals to recruit.

“I know and have full faith in the Bahamian educational system and that’s the number one thing,” he said.

“They can be extremely talented as an athlete, but if we can’t get them accepted in school and we don’t have confidence that they can continue on and be successful as a student athlete at the division one level, then it doesn’t serve any purpose to use this as a recruiting space but the education is phenomenal in The Bahamas. I know the student athletes that we’ve been able to come across and I have been able to get accepted to Howard at this level because The Bahamas is probably right now, the strongest nation in all of swimming.”

And that signals we are headed to the coveted Olympic medal podium in the future. 

But, some sage advice: be patient, Olympic glory will come.

“I think it’s just a matter of time,” Coach Nic said.

I think The Bahamas is trending in the right direction, but we have to be realistic. Swimming at the Olympic level is a very elite. We’re talking about the pinnacle, we’re talking about the tip of the mountain and as the Bahamian Swimming Federation and the country of The Bahamas continues to support the base, you’re gonna see more and more [swimmers] at those .”

So, do we have a Micheal Phelps or Katie Ladecky in our future ? 

Well, consider this about the U.S. Program, made famous by those swimming legends. 

“Here in the United States, swimming is not one of the top five sports in the country yet we do have such a strong base in our swimming program and we’re continuing because of that, we’re seeing more swimmers being at the Olympic leveling achieving Olympic success in those numbers,” Coach Nic said.

“I think the Bahamian federation probably has a higher level quality within its base, but the base is smaller.”