Gomez defends crown Sept 9

Jodi Gomez will be defending her title at the annual Las Cuevas Bay to Maracas Bay 6.5km swim challenge on September 9 at 9am. The competition will be hosted by the Trinity Masters Swim Club and will feature top local long distance open water swimmers such as paralympic swimmer Shanntol Ince. Ince, who will represent T&T at the London Paralympic Games which gets underway on August 29 in London, will be Gomez’s most threatening contender. Earlier this year, the Gasparillo Secondary School form five graduate emerged as the top women’s competitor at the 8th Gasparee Island race. Sixteen-year-old Chelsea Mohammed and top triathlete and open water veteran swimmer, Jacqueline Jodhan, are some of the other notable women swimmers. The Caribbean long-standing veteran will be hoping to continue her fine form from her second place finish at Grenada’s 25th annual triathlon in May.

 

 

Four-time Maracas Open Water Classic winner, John Stanley Littlepage, and 2011 Classic winner, Nicholas Mitchell, will have all eyes on them as the men’s main competitors. Mitchell, 17, was also the winner of this year’s Gasparee Island race. Fellow teenagers Sachin Sankar, 15, and Julian Kaufman, 16, are some of the other top mens’ competitors. Sankar and Kaufman placed second and third respectively in the Gasparee Swim. There will be 15 kayaks and seven motor boats as well as the Coast Guard vessels to accompany swimmers. Swimmers will start at Las Cuevas beach and go around the North coast to Maracas Bay and finish in front of the life guard building. All participants will be provided with a swim cap and a jersey courtesy the host club.