Brad Hamilton: From Kingston College to Baylor College
By Dr Cedric Lazarus
Brad Hamilton
It is not often that one sees a student like Brad Hamilton. Brad came to KC with two main goals in mind, namely, to get a good education and to continue to excel at swimming - his singular passion. By all accounts he succeeded on both fronts. While representing KC at swimming (2001-2006) he broke record after record in the pool and was undoubtedly the most dominant schoolboy swimmer for the past twenty years, maybe of all times.
Academically, he was at the top or near the top of his class for all of his five years at KC and recently graduated with nine CXC subjects: chemistry (grade 2), biology (grade 1), physics (grade 2), information technology (grade 1), French (grade 1), English Language (grade 1), English Literature (grade 2), history (grade 2) and mathematics (grade 2). No ordinary feat for a young man who trained morning and evening, five days a week days a week, four weeks a month, twelve months a year. In his early days at KC, I once asked his mother where Brad found the time to do his homework. Her reply was that they both got up at 4 am or thereabouts to finish his homework before driving to the Stadium Pool for training.
Just who is Brad Hamilton? He was born in November 1989 the son of Terry and Ransford Hamilton. He attended Wolmer’s Prep where he was the champion prep school swimmer for several years. After Wolmer’s Prep he went to KC, much to the dismay and surprise of his fellow swimmers and people in swimming circles, who all expected that he would go to Campion or Wolmer’s Boys, the top schools in swimming and schools with good swimming programmes. “Certainly he would lose his competitive edge at KC,” they thought: far from it. In fact, at KC he probably grew more competitive because he obviously felt that he had to win every race so that KC could move up the standings.
No one can dispute the fact that Brad and his mother Terry were responsible for the revival of swimming at KC. KC had not entered a school boy swimming championship since the early eighties but the arrival of Terry and Brad in September 2001 changed all that.
In 2001 with Brad in 1st form, Terry entered KC in the swimming championship – it was a four man team with Brad as the leader. This under twelve team raised many eyebrows at the Stadium Pool and as was expected Brad won most of KC’s 70 points that year. When Brad turned up in his purple trunks, swimming aficionados were heard shouting, “Brad Hamilton a go KC?” Others went to Terry and asked,”How come yu send Brad go KC, after dem nuh have no swimming programme!” Terry, who herself attended St Jago, was unmoved. Her standard reply was, “Brad wanted to go to KC, so I sent him there and I have no regrets, end of story.”
By Brad’s second term at KC and with the blessing of the administration, Terry went from class to class recruiting swimmers and soon she had a team of over 20 boys many of whom were rusty and had to undergo rigorous training to be able to compete with the boys from Campion, Wolmer’s and STGC. With the support of the KCOBA Miami Chapter and a few other parents and Old Boys, she organized training programmes with coaches at the Stadium and elsewhere, managed and mentored the team and was also its chief fundraiser. She often vowed that in a few years KC would be able to challenge Wolmers and STGC for 2nd position in School Boy swimming. “If we had a pool,” she often said, “We could challenge Campion for top spot in four or five years.” “Just rebuild the pool,” was her cry. The records will show that in a few years her team was able to displace STGC for third position and in one dramatic Championship managed to score more points than Wolmer’s to place second behind Campion.
Few could challenge Brad in the pool. At the stadium when Brad entered the starting blocks there was often a hush around the pool. His goal was not merely to win, as winning was often assured, his goal was to swim faster than he did the last time; his goal was to break a record and he broke many. He seldom lost an individual race. In fact the only individual race I saw him lose in his first three years at KC was an open event in which he placed second beaten by a swimmer three or four years older than he was. He swam all four strokes although the freestyle and butterfly were his favourite ones. His favourite event was the 100 meters freestyle in which his best time was 52.33 seconds. In the hundred meters butterfly his best time was 57.65 seconds.
Although the shy, quiet Brad would never admit it, he was an inspiration to many KC boys and it was because of him that many KC boys took up swimming. (No doubt the stylish purple trunks, goggles and athletic bags supplied for the team by the KCOBA Miami Chapter were also an inspiration!) The boys on his relay team were proud to be his partner and his other team members wanted to be able to say, “We swam with Brad.” In five years he won approximately fifty gold medals swimming for KC!
Brad not only swam for KC but also for his club Tornados and as was expected he was their dominant swimmer. His coach was Jacqueline Walter, probably the top swimming coach in Jamaica. She was also a friend and mentor to him. As far as swimmers go, Australian Ian Thorpe was his inspiration.
Brad represented Jamaica at many regional and international swim meets. He certainly was one of the most traveled school boys in Jamaica, traveling regularly to swim championships in the Caribbean and North America and also to the Commonwealth Games in Australia this year where he was the lone male swimmer on the Jamaican team. At last count he had twenty-five age group records, four senior records and four CARIFTA records.
What’s in the future for Brad? He now attend Baylor School in Chattanooga, Tennessee, one of the top high schools in the Southern USA, where he is studying economics, mathematics, French, history and English language and English Literature. No doubt he will do well in his studies there and go on to Auburn University, his university of first choice. He won a thirty thousand dollars scholarship to Baylor College, a school which boasts an excellent academic programme and has a sport facility that could be the envy of any university in the USA (visit Baylor’s website to see for yourself). His coach is Dan Flack who now has Brad on a strength and technique training programme. Nowadays, he does nine training sessions weekly for an average of two hours per session. (Similar to the training schedule he had in Jamaica) At Baylor College he continues to sharpen his skills in his bid to represent Jamaica in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. His parents are already saving to buy their plane tickets to China and so am I.
Although Brad is no longer at KC, his mother Terry is still there in her new capacity as manager of the canteen. However, she vowed that as long as she is at KC, the school will continue to enter the swimming championships. She states that she will continue to manage the team and to seek out training opportunities for the boys at the stadium or elsewhere. She hopes that she will continue to get financial support for the team so that the legacy of Brad can continue. “If only we had a pool,” she often moans. Knowing Terry Hamilton, I would not be surprised if she raises enough funds to rebuild and enclose the pool at KC by the time Brad wins his first Olympic gold medal.
