Four-time Olympic swimmer and 2004 bronze medal winner George Bovell III, and Mc Leod brothers Joshua and Abraham will begin their quest for precious metal at the 11th FINA World Short Course Swimming Championship which splashes off at the Sinan Erdem Arena, Istanbul, Turkey, today.
The 29-year-old Bovell III, who is being accompanied by his long-time local coach and Minister of Sport Anil Roberts over the five days of competition, will be hoping to pick up from where he left off last month at the conclusion of the eight-leg FINA/ARENA Swimming Short Course World Cup in Singapore on November 11.
During the eight legs of the World Cup which started in United Arab Emirates on October 2 before other stops in Doha, Qatar (October 6-7), Stockholm, Sweden (October 13- 14), Moscow, Russia (October 17 -18), Berlin, Germany (20-21), Beijing, China (November 2-3) and Tokyo, Japan (November 6-7), Bovell III tallied 16 medals, (seven gold, nine silver) to end with 157 points, 38 behind Australian Kenneth To (195) for US$50,000, in addition to his US$19,500 in individual winnings.
However, Bovell III, who set a new national record of 20.82 in Stockholm on October 14, will not be in action until tomorrow from 5.11 am (TT time).
The former Auburn University standout swimmer and double Pan American Games gold and silver medal winner will compete from lane four in the 15th of 17th heats for the men's 50m freestyle against Yang Shi (China), Hanser Hernandez (Cuba), Francois Heersbrandt (Belgium), Nicholas Santos (Brazil), Marco Orsi (Italy), Shinri Shoura (Japan), Arda Gurdal (Turkey), his countryman Joshua Mc Leod and Romanian Norbert Trandafir.
He will also compete in the 100 metres men's individual medley on Saturday from 5.04 am (TT time) in the ninth and final heat from lane four, once more alongside Turkey's Orel Oral, Chris Christensen (Denmark), Dominik Straga (Croatia), Dmitry Zhilin (Russia), Peter Mankoc (Slovenia), Thiago Simon (Brazil), Daiya Seto (Japan) Aleksey Derlyugov (Uzbekistan) and Uruguay's Gabriel Melcanian.
During the World Cup he also established a new national record in the 100m IM of 51.20 in October in Berlin.
The T&T swimmer, who travelled to Turkey a week ago, stated that he did that to have enough time to overcome the jet lag so as to perform at a high level. He added, "One day early for every hour of time change as the rest of the team arrived on December 9."
But upon his arrival, Bovell III ran into a few minor problems when getting some local currency for a taxi when an ATM machine malfunctioned and ate his credit card.
A tenth-placed finisher in the 50m freestyle two years ago in Qatar in 21.33, Bovell said he tried calling the hotline, finding someone to speak English and Turkish on the phone to the bank. "It was all for nothing and luckily I had some US dollars on me. I then had problems checking into my hotel without a credit card and had to get the meet organisers to help me. All this after I travelled 26+ hours with only small naps."
His early arrival in Istanbul, though, did have some other benefits as he was also invited by the Russian Swimming Federation to compete in Russia after the World Championship which he accepted.
To get his Russian visa, Bovell needed to use all his remaining cash and was left with only coins, a feeling he described as not being a nice one at all as he was almost broke in a country where he knew no one and did not speak the language.
However, he was able to get to a Western Union and got some much needed funds from his relatives here in T&T. With those troubles behind him, the T&T swimmer has since settled down in a his training regime with coach Roberts ahead of the today's start of competition.
Today, 20-year-old Abraham and 22-year-old Joshua Mc Leod will both be in action in the men's 100m breaststroke and 100m butterfly events, respectively.
First into competition will be the younger of the Mc Leods, Abraham, who will line up in the 100 metres breaststroke heat seven of ten from lane four against Uldis Tazans (Latvia), Yin Khoo (Singapore), Chris Christensen (Denmark), Vaidotas Blazys (Lithuania), Christian Schurr (Mexico), Kevin Corders (USA), Indra Gunawan (Indonesia), Martin Melconian (Uruguay) and Turkey's Omer Aslanoglu at 5.19 am (TT time).
Joshua then competes from 6 am in the 100m butterfly, heat eight of 10 against Phuoc Hoang (Vietnam), Viacheslav Prudnikov (Russia), Nikolay Skvortsov (Russia), Thomas Shields (USA), Heersbrandt (Belgium), Romain Sassot (France), Grant Irvine (Australia), Matteo Rivolta (Italy) and Japan's Kenta Hirai.