CISC medallists Syriah David, Abraham Mc Leod and Napoleon Howell all established new national records last weekend at the National Age Group Short Course Swimming Championships. The four day swim meet took place at the St Michael Swimming Pool Facility at Presentation College, San Fernando, and ended on Sunday. Saturday was the day for records at the meet, with the records being broken in quick succession. Mc Leod, of Atlantis Aquatics, was the first to splash to record glory in the 50-metre breaststroke for 15-17 boys. Mc Leod erased his own age group and open record of 29.66, establishing a new mark of 29.58. The CISC silver medallist in this event, was followed by CISC gold medallist Ryan Rigues, of UTT, in 29.98 and Stingray's Samuel Elvin in 32.31.
Two events and about two minutes later, the open record was broken when Howell pipped it by 0.03 seconds. The CISC gold medallist in the event, established a new time of 29.55. Howell, of Centre of Excellence Sea Hawks, also wiped out his old 18-and-over-age-group record of 29.72. Second in the event was CISC medallist Mosi Denoon in 30.07, and third his UTT teammate Miko Cruz in 30.43. Just two events after Howell's record swim, David, a CISC gold medal winner, wrote her name in the T&T record books in fine style. The Tidal Wave Aquatics mermaid touched the wall in an impressive 5:38.13. The race was a keenly contested event where she was challenged to the wire by Sea Hawks swimmer and national teammate Bryanna Duncan. In the end David prevailed over the 13-14 Duncan winning by 0.3 seconds and, in the process, blanked out Samantha Rahael's 2005 11-12 record of of 5:39.77. This gold medal was just one of nine won by David over the four days of competition. Luke Gillette put in a fierce challenge on the 1996 record of his older brother Stuart on Sunday.
The promsing eight-and-under swimmer totally outclassed the field in the 100m individual medley and stopped the clock at 1:22.51, just outside Stuart's record of 1:21.20. At the end of the meet, the pint-sized starlet ended up with a perfect record of six wins in as many swims, and won the overall trophy for his age group. Gillette's cousin and Marlins teammate, Jonathan Gillette also was in striking distance of the 400m individual medley 13-14 male record, but a personal best of 4:40.84 was consolation enough for missing the record of 4:37.94. He too had a spectacular meet, racking up a phenomenal 11 gold medals and winning the 13-14 male title. The meet was the last chance for swimmers desirous of qualifying for the Goodwill Swimming Championships which takes place from August 13 to 15 in Suriname. The 40-member team was expected to be selected yesterday by the Amateur Swimming Association of T&T (ASATT).
Results
Individual Scores:
Swimmer-Club-Pts
8-&-under Girls:
Faure, Vrisnelit-TIDAL WAVE-50
Chai, Jada-STINGRAY-39
David, Sabrina-TIDAL WAVE-39
8-&-under Boys
Gillette, Luke-MARLINS-54
Duke, Josiah-TIDAL WAVE-40
Leacock, Selik-MARLINS-36
9-10 Girls
Pilgrim, Amira-TSUNAMI-70
Downes, Arielle-TORPEDOES-67
Noel, Aliyah-STINGRAY-52
9-10 Boys
Gillette, James-MARLINS-53
Marsden, Christian-MARLINS-50
Riley, Osaze-TSUNAMI-45
11-12 Girls
David, Syriah-TIDAL WAVE-90
Keane, Katherine-TSUNAMI-64
Mulrain, Jewel-TORPEDOES-60
11-12 Boys
Sankar, Sachin-BARRACUDAS-79
Ramkissoon, Joshua-COE SEA HAWKS-73
Lewis, Christian-COE SEA HAWKS-59
13-14 Girls
Julien, Kristin-TSUNAML-75
Duncan, Bryanna-C.O.E. SEA HAWKS-73
Hay, Theana-MARLINS-56
13-14 Boys
Gillette, Jonathan-MARLINS-81
O'Brien, Jeron-TIDAL WAVE-56
Ramkissoon, Jonathan-COE SEA HAWKS-52
15-17 Girls
Armstrong, Makayla-BARRACUDAS-73
Maundy, Simone-TIDAL WAVE-49
Smith, Noelle-UNA-47
15-17 Boys
MC Leod, Abraham-ATLANTIS-83
Lyons, Cadell-BARRACUDAS-43
Reis, Christopher-STINGRAY-36
18-&-over Girls
Pierre, Rochelle-UTT-73
Carrillo, Raenelle-UTT-43
Williams, Nikeitha-UTT-39
18-&-over Boys
Sankar, Strasser-UTT-52
Alexis, Mark-UTT-49
Cruz, Miko-UTT-45
