Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace is urging Bermuda’s young swimmers to “dream big” after insisting that coming from a small island is not a handicap at the world level.

Vanderpool-Wallace is one of the top competitors in the region, finishing third at last year’s CAC (Central American and Caribbean) and South American Female Swimmer of the Year awards.

She will be vying to win Bahamas’ first medal in swimming at this summer’s Olympic Games in Rio and hopes her achievements can inspire youngsters from small islands such as Bermuda.

“My advice to other islanders would be to never get down on yourself just because you’re not performing the same times as people from bigger countries,” said Vanderpool-Wallace, a SwimMAC Carolina team-mate of Bermuda’s Roy-Allan Burch.

“If you keep pushing yourself and you’re having fun, it’s going to turn out great.

“I don’t think coming from a small island should be a handicap at all, it should actually push you.

“When I was in London [at the 2012 Olympics], it was really cool that I was from Bahamas whereas everyone else in the final was from massive countries like the United States and the Netherlands.

“It’s kind of exciting to be that one person from a tiny country to be able to perform the way that you do.”

Vanderpool-Wallace had the opportunity to share her words of wisdom with Bermuda’s aspiring swimmers last week, having visited the island as part of a training trip with her SwimMAC Carolina team-mates.

She said she was impressed with the talent on show, especially 15-year-old Madelyn Moore who cheekily told Vanderpool-Wallace that she was aiming to break her Carifta Championships 50 free record.

“Bermuda is a gorgeous place and coming from a Caribbean island I was like, ‘wow, I’ve never seen an island like this’,” Vanderpool-Wallace said.

“The Aquatics Centre [at the National Sports Centre] is beautiful. It’s one of the best pools in the world that I’ve ever trained in.

“I got to speak to a few of the youngsters and Maddy Moore actually said she was gunning for my Carifta Games record. It’s exciting to see that she’s pushing for that.

“That’s where I once was and I didn’t really realise what I was capable of. Hopefully Maddy can do that and go on to compete in the Olympics and medal one day.”

Vanderpool-Wallace, 26, finished eighth in the 50 free at the London Olympics but believes she has made huge strides since training under head coach David Marsh with the Team Elite at SwimMAC Carolina.

“I’m very zoned in for Rio,” said Vanderpool-Wallace, whose personal best in the 50 free is 24.34sec and 53.73 in the 100.

“I would love to be on the podium. I definitely feel I’m capable of doing it and I’ve dropped a lot of time in the three years that I’ve been with SwimMAC.

“It would be really awesome to be the first person from the Bahamas to win a medal.

“I don’t feel any extra pressure to do it. It’s really cool because I know the Bahamas is going to cheer for me no matter what.”