Cadell Lyons improved T&T's gold medal tally to two at the Central American and Caribbean Amateur Swimming Confederation (CCCAN) Championship at the National Aquatic Centre in Wildey, St Michael, Barbados, on Sunday night.
Competing in the 18 and Over Boys' 50-metres butterfly, the 26-year-old Lyons touched the wall in 24.69 seconds to beat Panama's Franco Reyes (24.83 seconds) and fellow T&T swimmer Jeron Thompson (25.01) to second and third respectively.
In addition to Lyons' gold and Thompson's bronze, T&T's swimmers added four silver and five more third-place finishes for a three-day haul of 14 medals (two gold, five silver and seven bronze).
Lyons picked up his second individual medal when he ended second in the 100m backstroke in 59.32 seconds to trail Mexican Carlos Godinez Garcia (58.61), while Barbadian Nicky Neckles took bronze in 59.52. T&T's Josiah Parag ended seventh in one minute, 02.21 seconds.
Lyons also teamed up with Mark Anthony Beckles, Kegan Ford and Thompson for silver in the 18 & Over Boys' 400m freestyle relay in three minutes, 28.98 seconds, which was faster than the previous record of 3:29.49 set by Venezuela ten years ago. Panama in a new record splash of 3:28.13 and Mexico ended third in 3:29.50.
The 13-14 Boys' 4x1oo metres freestyle quartet of Nikoli Blackman, Aaron Stuart, Kadon Williams and Zarek Wilson combined for three minutes, 45.62 seconds and silver, with Mexico taking gold in a new record of 3:39.58, lowering Venezuela's 2013 clocking of 3:40.23. Panama were third in 3:47.45.
Parag had much better fortune in the 400m individual medley in four minutes, 54.78 seconds, well behind Mexico's Carlos Kossio Mendez, who won in 4:30.23 to better the old record of 4:34.61 set by Marcelo Costa last year, while Puerto Rican was third in 5:04.31.
T&T's bronze medal winners included USA-based Gabriele Donahue, Zarek Wilson, Joy Blacket and both the boys' and girls' 15-17 freestyle 4x100 relay teams.
The 16-year-old Donahue got her second bronze in two days when she clocked five minutes, 17.97 in the 15-17 Girls' 400m individual medley behind Mexican duo Cardenas Rodriguez (5:07.67) and Sofia Chaves Corrales (5:15.37).
Wilson, 13, got home in one minute, 57.68 for third in the 13-14 Boys' 200m freestyle, just behind Mexico's Rodriguez Ramos Chavez (1:57.55) and Puerto Rican Josean Massucco (1:57.66), the first and second-placed finishers respectively.
Blackett secured her first medal of the championship with a bronze in the 11-12 Girls' 50m butterfly in 31.04 seconds. Jamaican Saidah Brown won in 30.76 with Dominican Republic's Alejandra Santana second in 31.02 and T&T's Amari Ash sixth in 31.66.
Donahue then capped off her night by linking up with Jada Chatoor, Deshor Edwards and Jahmia Harley for bronze in the 15-17 Girls' 4x100 Freestyle relay in 4:06.85, while the Aqeel Joseph, Gabriel Bynoe, Jae-Hwa Lee Wing and Malik Nelson got a similar placing in the 15-17 Boys' equivalent in 3:36.94.
At the last two editions of the CCCAN Championships, T&T managed to finish in the top two, including winning the overall title on home soil in 2017 at the National Aquatic Centre in Balmain, Couva. Back then, the Dylan Carter-inspired T&T contingent bagged 65 medals (21 gold, 26 silver and 18 bronze) to get the better of Puerto Rico. This win by T&T marked the first time an English-speaking country had ever topped the overall points table and it came via the all-around effort of the 64-member team as well as the Open Water members, four water polo teams, two divers and the synchronised swimmers.
Last year, T&T also made history when it emerged as the top team in the CCCAN Swimming Championships for the first time ever with 649.5 points, ahead of Colombia (584 pts) and hosts Aruba (561.5 pts).
After three days of swimming in Barbados, however, Mexico is well ahead on the medals table with 60 - 26 gold, 21 silver and 13 bronze -, followed by Panama, a distant second with 16 medals (seven gold, four silver and five bronze). The swimming segment of the five-discipline competition concludes Tuesday while the Open Water events take place Wednesday, followed by Water Polo from July 4 to 8.