The trio of Jada Chatoor, Nikoli Blackman and USA-based Gabriela Donahue won individual gold medals, as well as the 13-14 boys 4x100m freestyle relay team, on the opening night of finals at the 39th Carifta Swimming Championship in Wildey, St Michael, Barbados on Saturday night.
First to secure precious metal for T&T at the National Aquatic Centre, in Barbados was Chatoor when she outswam her rivals in the 15-17 girls 800m freestyle in nine minutes, 19.12, which bettered the Pan America Games ‘B’ standard qualifying time of 9:24.97.
Elana Sinclair of Cayman Islands got silver in 9:25.37, and Curacao’sSamantha Van Vuure, bronze in 9:30.40.
Blackman followed a few events later when he won the 13-14 boys 1500m freestyle with a time of 17 minutes, 01.45 seconds, well ahead of Barbadians, Christopher Pollard (17:34.63), and Diego Dulieu (17:37.95).
Donahue was a cut above the rest in the 15-17 girls 50m backstroke to claim gold in 29.98 seconds ahead of Jamaica’s Brianna Anderson (30.22), and Danielle Titus of Barbados, who got bronze in 30.43.
The 13-14 boys 4x100m freestyle relay quartet of Zarek Wilson, Blackman, Aaron Stuart and Josiah Changar also swam to gold in three minutes, 47.95 seconds followed by Jamaica (3:50.95), and Bahamas (3:51.18).
In addition to the four gold medals, T&T also picked up a silver and two bronze for a total haul of seven to end the first night of finals.
In the 15-17 girls 4x100m freestyle relay, T&T’s Danielle Williams, Anneliese Merry, Chatoor and Donahue combined for silver in four minutes, 07.67 seconds, well behind Jamaica (4:01.60), while the Cayman Islands took third in 4.:10.33.
In the 13-14 girls 800m freestyle, Zoe Anthony got bronze in a time of nine minutes, 52.92 seconds, behind Cayman Islands’ duo, Rayann Embury-Brown (9:25.19) and Avery Lambert (9:26.37).
And in the 11-12 girls 4x100m freestyle, T&T’s Amari Ash, Lyla Browne, Joy Blackett, and Amelia Rajack go bronze in 4:27.50.
Bermuda won gold in 4:20.11 and Bahamas, silver, in 4:26.68.
RESULTS
200m breaststroke
11-12 Girls: Joy Blackett - 5th- 3:14.26 mins
13-14 Girls: Zoe Anthony - 6th – 2:55.13
13-14 Boys: Kyle West – 6th – 2:40.05; Riquelio Joseph – 7th- 2:49.13
15-17 Girls: Anneliese Merry – 4th – 2:53.60; Vrisnelit Faure – 7th – 2:58.56
15-17 Boys: William Reyes – 5th – 2:31.58; Luke Gillette – 6th – 2:32.39
50m backstroke
11-12 Boys: Giovanni Rivas – 6th – 32.80
13-14 Girls: Gabrielle Vickles – 6th – 32.97
13-14 Boys: Zarek Wilson – 4th – 29.29.
100m butterfly
11-12 Girls: Joy Blackett – 4th – 1:10.78; Amelia Rajack – 5th – 1:10.81
11-12 Boys: Giovanni Rivas – 8th – 1:11.56
13-14 Girls: Zoe Anthony – 5th – 1:08.27
13-14 Boys: Zarek Wilson – 5th – 1:01.83; Yohann-Matthew Matamoro – 6th – 1:01.87
15-17 Girls: Vrisnelit Faure – 7th – 1:08.35
15-17 Boys: Aqeel Joseph – 5th – 57.88; Gabriel Bynoe – 6th – 59.57
4 x 100m freestyle relay
13-14 Girls: Gabrielle Vickles, Arielle Dickson, Neishelah Caseman, Zoe Anthony – 6th – 4:20.57
15-17 Boys: Malik Nelson, William Reyes, Gabriel Bynoe, Aqeel Joseph – 4th – 3:40.74.
Carifta Swimming medal table Day 1:
Teams*Gold*Silver*Bronze*Total
1. Bahamas*9*5*7*21
2. Jamaica*5*7*4*16
3. T&T*4*1*2*7
4. Cayman Islands*3*4*4*11
5. Bermuda A*2*2*1*5
6. Bermuda B*2*1*0*3
7. Barbados*1*3*3*7
8. Aruba*1*1*0*2
9. Guyana*1*0*0*1
10. Haiti*0*1*1*2
11. Turks & Caicos*0*1*0*1
12. St Lucia*0*1*0*1
13. Virgin Islands*0*1*0*1
14. Curacao*0*0*2*2
15. French Guiana*0*0*1*1
16. Martinique*0*0*1*1
17. Suriname*0*0*1*1
18. Grenada*0*0*1*1
Carifta Swimming Points Table Day One:
1. Bahamas – 233
2. Jamaica – 177
3. T&T – 155
4. Cayman Islands – 135
5. Barbados -105
6. Bermuda A – 97
7. Bermuda B – 57
8. Martinique –46
9. Grenada -28
10. Aruba – 24
11. Virgin Islands – 22
12. French Guiana – 22
13. Curacao – 20
14. Suriname – 19
15. Guyana – 18
16. St Lucia – 14
17. St Vincent and The Grenadines – 14
18. Haiti – 13
19. Turks & Caicos – 11
20. Antigua & Barbuda -5