T&T's Olympic bronze medal swimmer George Bovell III says he is looking foward to his participation at the 20th Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, from July 23 to August 3.
On Monday, Bovell and University of Southern California Trojans' Dylan Carter, silver medal winner in the boys 50m butterfly final at the World Junior Championships last year, were recommended by the Amateur Swimming Association (ASATT) as this country's representative at the Games.
Commenting on the event, Bovell said he was excited as this will be his first Commonwealth Games.
He added: "Throughout my career I have always been dealing with injuries. I am just grateful to be in good shape this year."
The two-time World Championship bronze medallist joked that he didn't attend the Commonwealth Games in the past "because I don't recognize the queen. This year, however, I do plan to attend as I have never been to Scotland and have some Scottish ancestry, so am looking forward to reconnecting."
Looking ahead, Bovell noted that swimming is not taken very seriously or respected very much at the Commonwealth Games, since they do not include USA, Europe, Asia or Brazil, some of the main swimming powerhouses.
"However, this competition will be a step towards perfecting the 50m freestyle for the 2016 Rio Olympics, and preparation for the FINA World Championships in Qatar in December."
With regards to Carter, his heir apparent, Bovell said, "It's great that Carter will also be attending. I expect he will be very competitive and could potentially shake up some big names in the 200 freestyle and also in the 100m."
Last month (May 22-25), Bovell splashed off his season with a gold in the 50m freestyle (22.91 seconds) and silver 50m backstroke (26.97) at the 51st Mel Zaljac Meet held at the University of British Columbia Aquatic Centre, University Boulevard, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
A former Auburn University swimming standout, Bovell also won the 50m butterfly B-final in 25.55 while he qualified for the 50m breaststroke gold medal swim with a time of 29.53, but opted out of the event.