Teenaged swimmer Vaughn Rowse is on the verge of making local swimming history.The Warwick Academy student will become the first Bermudian swimmer to compete in the inaugural Carifta Swimming Championships open water 5K event that is the latest addition to the annual regional swim meet.Rowse is competing in the boys 15-17 age bracket and is very much looking forward to finally competing at an event that he has narrowly missed qualifying for on several occasions in the past.“I am proud of making the Carifta team,” he said. “My favourite events are the distance events and I’m not afraid of doing the hard work needed for these events.“I have been training hard and my times in the 1500 meters have been dropping very well this season. I believe my work in the pool will help in, not only at the Carifta 1500, but in the open water 5K.“I’m nervous of swimming an unknown course in unknown water but also excited about the challenge.”The Sharks Swim Club swimmer is the son of Nick Rowse who is the first Bermudian swimmer to compete in the 1500 meters in the pool.National coach Ben Smith described the 17-year-old as a role model.“Vaughn started swimming later than most as he was 12-years-old and he is a very hard worker and is dedicated to the sport in all facets,” he said. “Last year Vaughn came excruciatingly close to qualifying for Carifta Bahamas but missed by a mere tenth. As a coach it was such a great feeling to watch how Vaughn reacted to missing his qualifying time. He was at the next practice working even harder.“That dedication to his craft was such a great example to his team mates that we made him captain of the swim club. Probably more important to Vaughn, he used that hard work to reach his goal of qualifying for this year’s Carifta.”Rowse will enrol in McMaster University in Ontario, Canada next fall where he intends to place more emphasis on open water swimming that could potentially offer the promising swimmer more opportunities.“It will open up opportunities at CISC and CCCAN within our region,” added Smith. “Now that open water swimming has become part of World Championships and the Olympics it also has him thinking of even bigger opportunities in the future.”Rowse is among Bermuda’s 18-strong Carifta Swimming Championships team that departed for Jamaica yesterday.The regional meet will be held at the National Stadium Pool in Kingston between March 30 and April 3.