Bradley Ally

Bradley Ally

Bradley Kevin Ally is a three-time Olympic swimmer from Barbados. Ally represented Barbados at the 2004 Athens Olympics, served as the Olympic Flag bearer for Barbados at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and again appeared in the 2012 London Olympics.

Personal Life

Ally was born on December 11, 1986 in Bridgetown, Barbados. Ally relocated to Fort Lauderdale, Florida and swam under Head Coach Jay Fitzgerald at the Pine Crest Swim Club. In high school, Ally won eight titles at the FHSAA Championships, set the national high school record in the 200-yard individual medley (1:46.70) and broke the Florida high school state record in the 100-yard breaststroke (54.72). Ally attended the University of Florida from 2005-2010, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in geology.

College Swimming

2005-2006

Ally matriculated to the University of Florida during the 2005-06 season as a very high-profile recruit. During his freshman season, Ally earned a spot on the SEC Academic Honor Roll team and became the fifth Gator to earn SEC Freshman of the Year award. Days after returning from the Commonwealth Games held in Australia, Ally earned six All-America honors at the NCAA Championships held in Atlanta, Georgia. Ally placed fifth in the 400-yard individual medley with a time of 3:45.67, sixth in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 1:45.16, and placed 16^th in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:59.28 seconds. As a relay member, Ally helped the Gators finish fourth in the 800-yard freestyle relay and 10^th in the 200-yard freestyle relay, as well as seventh place in the 400-yard medley relay as the breaststroke leg.

2006-2007

In 2006-07, Ally garnered six more All-America honors at the NCAA Championships held in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In the 200-yard individual medley, Ally finished fourth with a time of 1:43.69 seconds. In the 400-yard individual medley, Ally finished fifth with a time of 3:44.41 seconds. Finally, Ally placed sixth in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:55.85 seconds. In the relays, Ally again aided the Gators to a sixth place finish in the 400-yard medley relay, seventh place in the 400-yard freestyle relay and a top 8 finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay as a member in the preliminaries. Earlier in his sophomore season, Ally earned his first two conference titles by posting a time of 3:45.82 in the 400-yard individual medley as well as 1:56.69 in the 200-yard breaststroke.

2007-2008

Ally’s junior season of 2007-08 brought another half-dozen All-America honors at the NCAA Championships held in Seattle, Washington. By posting a time of 3:43.59 seconds, Ally swam to a third place finish in the 400-yard individual medley, his best individual finish at the NCAA meet. Unfortunately, Ally had a hiccup in the 200-yard individual medley by adding time to his personal best and placing ninth in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 1:44.60. Experiencing another set-back in the 200-yard breaststroke, Ally finished in 14^th with a time of 1:57.30 seconds. Ally added three more All-America honors to his resume by helping the 800-yard freestyle relay to sixth place, the 400-yard freestyle relay to a 12^th place finish and by helping the 200-yard freestyle relay qualify for the final heat as a preliminary member of the relay. Earlier in the season, Ally added the third SEC title of his career in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 1:44.45 seconds, while finishing third in the 400-yard individual medley (3:46.00) and fourth in the 200-yard breaststroke (1:57.20).

2008-2009

During his senior season of 2008-2009, Ally enjoyed his greatest season, adding seven more All-America honors, giving him 25 total honors over his four year career.. At the NCAA Championships held in College Station, Texas, Ally won his first national title while breaking Ryan Lochte’s NCAA record in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 1:40.49 seconds. In the 400-yard individual medley, Ally impressively finished .05 seconds slower than Lochte’s previous national record, but he still finished in third behind NCAA champion Tyler Clary (3:35.98) and Gal Nevo (3:38.00). In the final individual swim of his NCAA career, Ally tried a new event and finished in a strong ninth place with a time of 1:42.56 in the 200-yard butterfly. In the relays, Ally helped the Gators finish seventh in the 200-yard freestyle relay by posting a time of 19.21 seconds in the third leg, fifth in the 400-yard medley relay with a time of 44.96 seconds as the butterfly leg, sixth in the 200-yard medley relay, again as the butterfly leg, posting a time of 20.35 seconds, and seventh in the 400-yard freestyle relay by posting a time of 42.74 seconds as the penultimate leg.

National and International Swimming

In addition to Ally’s successful high school and collegiate careers, he also excelled at the national and international levels, too. At the spry age of 17, Ally competed in the 100-meter and 200-meter breaststroke events, as well as the 200-meter and 400-meter individual medley events during his first Olympic Games at the 2004 Athens Olympics. During this first Olympic experience, Ally placed 41^st in the 100-meter breaststroke (1:04.71) and 35^th 200-meter breaststroke (2:18.64) races, while also finishing as the 23^rd and 25^th ranked swimmer in the 200-meter and 400-meter individual medley races, respectively. Ally’s time in the 200-meter version was 2:03.29 and 4:24.70 in the 400-meter race.

In 2005, Ally competed at the FINA World Swimming Championships, hosted in Montreal, Canada. Ally finished 45^th in the 100-meter breaststroke with a time of 1:04.06; 29^th in the 200-meter breaststroke with a time of 2:19.12; 13^th in the 200-meter individual medley with a time of 2:02.53; and 19^th in the 400-meter individual medley with a time of 4:28.91 seconds.

Ally had a busy year in 2006. In March of 2006, shortly before the NCAA championships of his freshman season, Ally competed in three events at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia. Ally placed tenth in the 100-meter breaststroke (1:03.38), sixth in the 200-meter individual medley (2:02.45) as well as fifth in the 400-meter individual medley (4:21.13). In the summer season, Ally competed at the 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games located in Cartagena, Colombia, where Ally took home three gold medals. Ally’s victorious swims came in the 200-meter breaststroke (2:19.28) and both the 200-meter and 400-meter individual medley races. Ally also added one silver medal as the second place finisher in the 100-meter breaststroke (1:04.50) and a bronze medal as part of the 4×100-meter medley relay for Barbados. In both individual medley races, Ally bettered the competition record with times of 2:02.98 seconds in the 200-meter race and 4:22.86 seconds in the 400-meter race.

In 2007, Alley attended the Pan American Games located in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, earning a spot on the podium in the 200-meter individual medley with a time of 2:00.96. In the 400-meter individual medley, Ally finished in fifth place with a time of 4:25.36, while adding a 12^th place finish in the 100-meter breaststroke with a time of 1:04.82 seconds.

In 2008, Ally returned to the Olympic Games in Beijing, China, swimming a more specialized program of events. Ally competed in the 200-meter individual medley and placed ninth with a time of 1:59.53, a bit slower than his preliminary time of 1:58.57 seconds. Ally also competed in the 400-meter individual medley race, finishing in 4:14.01, good enough for tenth place overall.

In 2009, Ally made an appearance at the World Aquatic Championships hosted in Rome, Italy, swimming to 20^th place in the 200-meter individual medley with a time of 2:00.44 seconds.

In 2010, Ally traveled to Dubai of the United Arab Emirates to compete in the World Short Course Championships in December. At this meet, Ally specialized in shorter events, including a 40^th place finish in the 100-meter breaststroke (1:00.93), a tie for 12^th place in the 100-meter individual medley (53.12), and a 13^th place finish in the 200-meter individual medley (1:56.11).

In 2012, Ally returned for his third Olympic Games, held in London, England. During his time in London, Ally competed in both individual medley races as well as the 100-meter backstroke event. In the backstroke, Ally finished 40^th overall with a time of 56.27 seconds. In the 200-meter individual medley, Ally finished tied for 22^nd with a time of 2:00.85, and finished his program with a 25^th place finish in the 400-meter individual medley with a time of 4:21.32 seconds.

            Ally currently owns eight Barbadian national records, including seven individual and one as part of the 4×100-meter medley relay. Ally’s holds records in the 100-meter backstroke (55.88), 100-meter breaststroke (1:03.38), 200-meter breaststroke (2:14.52), 100-meter butterfly (52.73), 200-meter butterfly (2:03.68), 200-meter individual medley (1:58.57) and the 400-meter individual medley (4:14:01).

Originally developed by Doug Lennox II