Elvis Vereance Burrows (born 24 February 1989) is a Bahamian swimmer who specializes in sprint freestyle and butterfly events. He is a four-time national record holder in his respective swimming events, and is a member of Kentucky Wildcats swimming team, upon his admission at the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

Biography

Elvis Vereance Burrows born in

Freeport Freeport, a variant of free port, may refer to: Places United States *Freeport, California *Freeport, Florida *Freeport, Illinois *Freeport, Indiana *Freeport, Iowa *Freeport, Kansas *Freeport, Maine, a New England town **Freeport (CDP), Maine, the ...

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...

on 24 February 1989.

Career

Burrows started out his swimming career, when he and his family moved to the United States to pursue his father's education with a doctorate of philosophy in theology. He won a state championship title for the sprint freestyle in 2005, and later emerged as the most valuable swimmer of the year at

Seneca High School MCA Seneca High School MCA (Magnet Career Academy) is a Louisville, Kentucky, USA, public school. It is located at 3510 Goldsmith Lane, Louisville, Kentucky 40220, in the Hikes Point neighborhood and is part of Jefferson County Public Schools. Se ...

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

. With his outstanding achievements, he was eventually recruited by

Gary Conelly Gary Robert Conelly (born October 18, 1952) is an American former swimmer who represented the United States at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany. Conelly swam for the winning U.S. teams in the preliminary heats of the men's 4×100-me ...

, a coach and a relay swimmer who competed at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

Munich, Germany Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

, to play for the Kentucky Wildcats swimming team. As a member of the team, Burrows earned two All-American honors for the freestyle and medley relays at the NCAA championships. Burrows made into the international scene, when he represented his homeland Bahamas at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. He competed for the men's 50 m freestyle, and swam against contenders, including Switzerland's

Flori Lang Flori Lang (born 30 January 1983) is a Swiss sprinter swimmer who won three medals at the European Championships of 2003, 2008 and 2011. He also competed in two freestyle events at the 2008 Summer Olympics, but did not reach the finals. By 2011 he ...

and Lithuania's

Rolandas Gimbutis Rolandas Gimbutis (born 11 February 1981 in Vilnius, Lithuania) is a swimmer from Lithuania. He participated in the 2000, 2004, and 2008 Summer Olympics. National records A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection ...

, in the eighth heat of the competition. Burrows completed his event, with a time of 23.19 seconds, finishing seventh in the heats, but placing fifty-second in the overall standings. Despite his disappointing result at the Olympics, Burrows eventually emerged as one of Bahamas' most prominent swimmers in the late 2000s. At the

2009 FINA World Championships The 2009 World Aquatics Championships ( it, Campionati mondiali di nuoto 2009) or the XIII FINA World Championships were held in Rome, Italy from 18 July to 2 August 2009. The 2009 Championships featured competition in all 5 aquatics disciplines ...

Rome, Italy , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (Romulus and Remus, legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg ...

, he had set four national records in the men's sprint freestyle and butterfly events, which were all previously held by former Olympic swimmer Allan Murray. He also competed at the

2010 Central American and Caribbean Games The 21st Central American and Caribbean Games (Spanish: ''XXI Juegos Centroamericanos y del Caribe, Mayagüez 2010'') took place in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, from 18 July 2010 to 1 August 2010. Bid It was understood that Mayagüez was going to b ...

Mayagüez, Puerto Rico Mayagüez (, ) is a city and the eighth-largest municipality in Puerto Rico. It was founded as Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria de Mayagüez, and is also known as ''La Sultana del Oeste'' (The Sultaness of the West), ''Ciudad de las Aguas Pura ...

, and won a bronze medal in the men's 50 m butterfly event, with an impressive time of 24.30 seconds. In 2010, Burrows graduated with a bachelor's degree of hospitality management and tourism with majors in nutrition and food science. He is currently working as a music producer and a songwriter. Burrows also tried out for the 2012 Olympics but he missed the qualification standard.

References

External links

* * (The Bahamas) * (United States) * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Burrows, Elvis 1989 births Living people Bahamian male freestyle swimmers Olympic swimmers for the Bahamas Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Central American and Caribbean Games bronze medalists for the Bahamas Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in swimming Competitors at the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games Pan American Games competitors for the Bahamas Swimmers at the 2011 Pan American Games Commonwealth Games competitors for the Bahamas Swimmers at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Kentucky Wildcats men's swimmers Bahamian expatriate swimmers in the United States Seneca High School (Louisville, Kentucky) alumni People from Freeport, Bahamas