Nikoli Blackman was among six Marlins Swimming Club competitors to come away with Age-Group FINA Points and High Points awards at the conclusion of the four-day Aquatic Sports Association of T&T (ASATT) National Open Long Course Swimming Championships at the National Aquatic Centre in Balmain, Couva last Sunday.
In the 15-7 Boys, Blackman, the three-time First Sports Foundation ‘Junior Sportsman of the Year who has committed to the University of Tennessee beginning next September tallied 7,991 points from his 12 events to win the FINA Points awards.
The other Marlins’ FINA Points winners included Zalayhar Lewis (9-10 Girls) with 3,110 points from ten swims; Taylor Marchan (11-12 Girls with 4,419 points from 11 races; Qadir Lewis (11-12 Boys) with 1,220 points from four events; Aime Le Black (13-14 Girls) with 4,089 points from ten events; and Zoe Anthony (15-17 Girls) with 4,114 points from eight swims.
The other FINA Points winners were Bluefins Aquatics’ Athalia Giddings in the Eight and Under Girls with 953 points; Tidal Wave Aquatics’ Mason Granger in the Eight and Under Boys’ with 905; Eagles Aquatics’ Micah Alexander with 2,086 in the 9-10 Boys’; Darren Belfon in the 13-14 Boys with 4,791 and the 18 and Over Girls, and Boys respectively, Olympian Cherelle Thompson of Eagles Aquatics (1,330), and Riquelio Joseph of Atlantis Aquatics with 6,193
And among the High Point Age-Group competitors, the 17-year-old Blackman, one of T&T’s standout performers at the 36th Caribbean Free Trade Association Aquatics (Carifta) Championships at the Enith Brigitha Swimming Pool in Curacao last month amassed 81 points for the overall 11 & Over title ahead of clubmate Zachary Anthony, who finished with 68 points, and Atlantis Aquatics’ Riquelio Joseph, who tallied 47.5.
In the women’s 11 & Over High Point race, Marlins’ Zoe Anthony took top spot with 54 points, ten more than clubmate Aimee Le Blanc (44), while Sydney Look Fong of Petrotrin Barracudas ended in the third spot with 40 points.
In the 10 & Under category, Marlins’ Zalayhar Lewis was a clear winner with 81 points, with Zahara Lewis second with 63, and Elin Stone, third with 50 to complete a Marlins 1-2-3 in the girls’ while Micah Alexander of Eagles Aquatics’ won the boys top award with 71 points, just ahead of Aiden Nixon of Tidal Wave Aquatics, who ended with 69 while Petrotrin Barracudas’ Eli Edwards was a distant third with 44.
