Five-time Olympian and top T&T swimmer George BovelI III has opted to take a two-week break from competitive action as he looks ahead to the French Open Swimming Championships in Vichy (July 4-5) and the Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada.An 2004 Olympic Games bronze medal winner in the 200m individual medley, the 31-year-old Bovell III made the decision after competing at the second-leg of the Aspira Swimming Cup in Turin, Italy on Wednesday.
A five-time Pan American Games medal winner (two gold, two silver, one bronze), Bovell was listed to compete in the men's 50m freestyle skins event, in which the losers are eliminated after each race ahead of the head-to-head final.
Commenting on his Turin exploits which ended in disappointing fashion, Bovell III, also a two-time World Championship bronze medallist said, "They held the start forever and my legs were cramping up so I stood up. The guy next to me in lane eight also stood up, but then they took their marks and went before I could even get down and grip the block.
"It was the worst start and I was out of it from the beginning, and I had to try and accelerate from zero, however in the end both myself and the guy in lane eight, were out of the race, " added the five-time individual NCCA champion.The T&T swimmer jokingly added, "So it seems like I'm getting the bad karma out of my system before I head to the French Open Swimming Championships and the Pan American Games in Canada."
Bovell was next expected to compete at the Trofeo Rossini from today until Sunday and the Treviso Swim Cup (June 26-27), however he said he will be taking a much needed break along with his ADN Swim Project clubmates.
The former Auburn University swimming ace, who tallied the most All American Honours in the school's history (25), said he opted not to attend as the other members of his new Italian-based club, Russian duo Yevgeny Lagunov and Oleg Tikhobaev, Belgium's Francois Heersbrandt, Kenya's David Dunford and Ukraine's Andrei Govorov will not be attending.
He explained, "We have been rolling together as one unit from ADN, but over the last couple of weeks it has been so much and we want to race enough to get better, and not get broken down before the World Championship in Kazan in August.
He added, "The travel is hard as well and I am still trying to catch myself after the meet 52nd International Open Sette Colli Swimming Championship in Rome, so over the next couple of weeks we will just be training, resting and then getting tapered for the French Swimming Championship and Pan American Games from July 14-18."
On Tuesday, the T&T swimmer was fourth in the men's 50m freestyle skins event at the Aspira Swimming Cup at the Milan Harbour Club, Milan, Italy, on Tuesday.
Coming off a disappointing performance at the 52nd International Open Sette Colli Championship in Rome, Bovell III, who was still being affected by the virus which hampered his progress in Rome, clocked a slow 25.61 in the four-man semifinals behind Japan's Shinri Shioura (23.83), Lagunov (24.35) and Hungary's Krisztian Takacs (24.38).
When the eight-man first round swim-off took place, Bovell was third best in 23.43 to trail Tikhobaev (23.37) and Shioura (23.39).Takacs was fourth in 23.46 followed by Lagunov (23.54), Italian duo Filippo Magnini (23.77) and Lucio Spadaro (24.15), while Austrian Gottfried Eisenberger was eighth in 24.26. The second round of eliminators saw Bovell again ending in third spot but with a slower time of 24.03 behind Shioura (23.62) and Takacs (23.91).
Lagunov was fourth in 24.07 to claim the other semifinal spot while Magnini (24.16) and Tikhobaev (24.20) were eliminated after ending fifth and sixth respectively.