Napoleon Howell and Abraham Mc Leod and the boys 15-17 and 18 & Over medley relay quartets were among the records as T&T moved closer to a third straight lien on the team title at the 19th Caribbean Islands Swimming Championship (CISC) at the Roly Bisslik Olympic Pool, Savaneta, Aruba on Tuesday night. With only last night's finals left to be contested, T&T, the reigning two-time champions, had amassed a total of 724 points from 61 medals (24 gold, 20 silver, 17 bronze), just ahead of host Aruba's 718 points and 55 medals (22 gold, 18 silver, 15 bronze) while Puerto Rico with 414.5 points from 36 medals (ten gold, 12 silver, 14 bronze) is third. Next is Bahamas (383), Suriname (369), Barbados (330), Jamaica 287 and Bermuda (271). Howell won the 18 & Over boys 50m breaststroke in 28.67 seconds followed by Mc Leod in 29.06 and Bermuda's Julian Fletcher (29.46).
The winning time by Howell replaced the record of 29.13 that he and Mc Leod set in the morning heats which they jointly won to erase the 2004 mark of 29.48 seconds set by fellow T&T swimmer, George Bovell III. Fletcher was also third fastest in the heats in 30.02. The quartet of Dylan Carter, Jonathan Ramkissoon, Emiro Goossen and Joshua Romany combined to shatter the 1982 boys 15-17 400m medley relay record of 4:01.75 set by Cuba with a 3:57.53 minutes clocking in the final event on the night. Second was Suriname, also under the old record in 4:00.03, while Aruba was a distant third for bronze in 4:09.90. The other record on the night for T&T came via Caryle Blondell, Mc Leod, Levar Goossenn and Strasser Sanker in the 18 & Over boys 400m medley relay in 3:57.33 to better Cuba's 2010 record of 3:57.87. Bahamas took the silver medal in 4:03.76 while host Aruba was third in 4:28.78. The other gold medal winners on the night for the the defending champions were Jabari Baptiste and Aliyah Noel. Baptiste outswam his field in the 13-14 boys 200m backstroke for gold in 2:16.14 seconds well ahead of Jamaica's Matthew Lyn (2:22.63) and Suriname's Michael Grauwde (2:24.72).
In the race of the afternoon, Noel and Bahamian Margaret Higgs both touched the wall in 37.38 seconds for a share of gold while Suelenn Graanoogst of Suriname had to settle for third in 37.94. The T&T 15-17 girls medley relay quartet of Kimberlee John-Williams, Alexandria Donahue, Rebecca Marshall and Jenique Duval had their chance at glory dashed after being disqualified in its gold medal swim against lone rival, Aruba, which won in 4:49.96. Arile Cape added a silver medal for T&T in the 13-14 Girls 200m backstroke (2:33.94) behind Puerto Rico's Nina Ebensperger in 2:32.69. Sariyah Sherry of Barbados was third in 2:33.98. Bronze medallists for T&T were Anthony Edwards, Johnny Ferdinand, Ramkissoon, Alexandria Donahue and Syriah David. Edwards was third in the 18 & Over 200m backstroke (2:20.06 mins); Ferdinand (13-14 girls 50m breaststroke-36.43); Ramkissoon (15-17 boys 50m breaststroke-30.19), just missing Ross Phillip's 2011 national record of 30.17; Donahue (15-17 girls 50m breaststroke-4.54) and David (13-14 girls 400m freestyle-4:41.46). The meet was expected to end last night while the T&T swimmers return home 8.30 pm tonight.
Medal Table After Four Days
Country Gold Silver Bronze Total
T&T 24 20 17 61
Aruba 22 18 15 55
Suriname 14 9 11 34
Bahamas 12 8 4 24
Puerto Rico 10 12 14 36
Dom Rep 10 9 6 25
Jamaica 8 11 11 30
Bermuda 8 10 11 29
Barbados 8 7 10 25
Grenada 2 4 0 6
St Lucia 2 3 2 7
N Antilles 0 3 6 9
