Chai, Faure add more Carifta events

Jada Chai of Atlantis Aquatics and Vrisnelit Faure of Areios Aquatechs added two more events to their schedule for this Easters’ Carifta Swimming Championship (April 22-26) in Aruba when National Age Group Long Course Championships hosted by the Amateur Swimming Association of T&T (ASATT) continued at Marlins Swimming Pool, Morne Coco Road, Westmoorings, on Thursday night. Swimming in the 11-12 girls 100m freestyle heats, Chai (1:03.48) and Faure (1:05.59) attained the Carifta qualifying A (1:03.71) and C (1:06.47) standards, respectively. Chai later returned to the pool to top the 50 metre backstroke splash heats in 34.28 to better the Carifta B mark of 34.56 while Faure won her 100m breaststroke heat in 1:24.56 which bettered the Caribbean Islands Swimming Championship (CISC) B standard mark of 1:25.92.

Other qualifiers from Thursday night heats were Osaze Riley, Sportswoman of the Year Kristien Julien, Dominic Mc Leod, Justin Samlalsingh, Jabari Baptiste, David Mc Leod, Luke Gillette, Dario Omiss, Jeron Thompson and Jeron O’Brien. Riley of Aquatechs topped the 13-14 boys 100m freestyle in 56.67 to better the Carifta B mark of 57.10; his clubmate Julien won her 15-17 girls preliminary splash in the exact Carifta B standard time of 1:00.33; and Mc Leod (Dominic), in the 18 & Over boys 100m freestyle in 53.85, well under the CISC B mark of 54.44. Samlalsingh touched the wall in 30.03 in the 13-14 boys 50m backstroke to dip under the CISC B time of 30.07 while Baptiste and Mc Leod (David) were one-two in the 15-17 boys backstroke in 28.42 and 28.79 respectively, bettering the 28.90 CISC B qualifying grade. And the qualifiers for the 100m breaststroke from the heats to the Carifta meet were Gillette, who equalled the Carifta C qualifying time of 1:24.81 in the 11-12 boys event; Omiss (1:13.24) and Thompson (1:13.70) were faster than the Carifta B 13-14 splash qualifying time of 1:14.10 while O’Brien’s 1:09.17 was well ahead of the 15-17 boys B mark of 1:10.52.

On Wednesday’s opening night, Chai, competing in the 11-12 girls 50m butterfly qualified with a time of Carifta A time of 30.36 ahead of clubmate Deshor Edwards who attained a B standard time of 32.31. The duo then clocked 30.75 and 33.01 in the final for A and C qualifying times, respectively. And in the 15-17 girls 50m butterfly, Kristen Julien of Areios Aquatechs again had the only other Carifta A time when she won the final in 28.81 well ahead of the qualifying mark of 29.52 while second placed Jessica Gay (30.67) just beat the CISC B mark of 30.69. In the morning session, Julien also surpassed the Carifta A barrier with a time of 28.80. The Tidal Wave Aquatics trio of Aqeel Joseph (31.10), Gabriel Bynoe (31.45) and Josiah Duke (32.18) all went under the Carifta C time of 32.25 in the 11-12 boys 50m butterfly in their final. 

In the heats, Joseph and  Duke also achieved the Carifta C standard, a qualification only eligible for 11-12 swimmers, posting 31.49 and 32.08, respectively. In the morning session, there were two other Carifta qualifiers, but based on B standard times in Jahmia Harley and Chai after their one-two finish  in the 11-12 girls 400m freestyle. Harley of Tidal Wave Aquatics, fresh from her record breaking streak in the girls 9-10 age-group at ASATT Invitational in December of last year, touched in 4:56.47 ahead of Chai (5:00.74). A regular member of the national team, Jabari Baptiste had the top time in the 15-17 boys butterfly for a Carifta B qualifying time of 26.10  while second placed David Mc Leod of Atlantis touched the wall in a CISC B mark of 26.61, just inside the 26.67 qualifying time. In the finals, Mc Leod (26.64), Lance Certain (26.66) and Baptiste (26.66) all qualified for the CISC.

Dominic Mc Leod was the sole CISC A qualifier among the older boys in the 50m Butterfly with the time of 25.17 in the heats and then repeated his feat again in the finals with a 25.07 timing, well ahead of the qualifying standard of 25.55. Faure of Aquatech won the 11 & Over girls 200m breaststroke in 3:00.63 which was good enough for a Carifta B and CISC B qualifying mark.
Other qualifiers for the CISC which takes place in Barbados in July to date are Christian Marsden, Kael Yorke, David Wiltshire, Jeron O’Brien and Amira Pilgrim. The five-day meet which ends tomorrow is the final opportunity for T&T swimmers to qualify for the Carifta Swimming Championships, to be held in Aruba from April 22-26.