At the National Sports Award Ceremony on Saturday, March 16th, I accepted the Achievement Award on behalf of close family member, Arantxa King. Arantxa is one of Bermuda’s elite female athletes in Track & Field, specializing in triple jump and long jump.  Awarded Athlete of the Year in 2011, King placed 13th in the London Olympics, and is currently training stateside for the Rio Olympics 2016. She is a recent graduate of Stanford University.

The event highlighted the island’s top athletes and their recent achievements.  I was not familiar with all of the nominees mentioned and this event opened my eyes to some of the younger athlete’s that are extremely talented and are representing Bermuda competing in events all over the world. I was most impressed with Jesse Washington, a young swimmer who won fifteen medals at the Caribbean Island Swimming Championships in Aruba, and Carifta Games in the Bahamas and Kyrah Scraders, who has won medals internationally including the Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships and Carifta Games. Both were recipients of the Junior Athlete of the Year Award.

Tyrone Smith received Male Athlete of the Year (senior) as a professional long jumper. Flora Duffy received Female Athlete of the Year as a triathlete. Both represented Bermuda in the London Olympics where Tyrone made it to the finals.