Olympic and World Short Course Championships bronze medal swimmer, George Bovell is pleased with his start to the 2013 season.
The 29-year-old T&T swimmer splashed off his season with victory in the TYR Jax50 freestyle at the Bolles School Vible Pool, San Jose Boulevard, Jacksonville, Florida, on Saturday.
He beat Olympic Games silver medallist American Cullen Jones in the final, in 19.20 seconds, just shy of his meet record of 19.6 jointly-held by Auburn University’s Adam Brown.
Commenting on his win, Bovell said he was very pleased. “It was important in this style of competition to be fast enough to make it through the rounds but still retain enough energy to go for the win.
He added, “My time of 19.20 was fast, and I am encouraged by the fact that I was able to post this time despite making as many mistakes as I did.
“Usually I can rely on my dive to gain an advantage. This competition was not as much about the time as it was great practice to be facing some of the best in the world.”
Bovell went into the meet despite the lack of training facilities which forced him to improvise in his training methods.
He explained: “I had some big challenges over the past few days. The pools I was training in were both closed, forcing me to resort to other types of training and I eventually had to find a place overseas where I could continue my preparations.”
Tomorrow, Bovell flies to Uganda for one week to join other Olympic medalists from Africa in a campaign to raise awareness against Malaria.