USA-based Liam Carrington won three individual gold medals, and Zuri Ferguson won two individual gold medals, while Zachary Anthony, Catherine Dieffenthaller, Ethan McMillan-Cole and Taylor Marchan all won gold for T&T on the final night of the 38th edition of the Carifta Aquatics Championships hosted by the Aquatic Sports Association of T&T (ASATT) on Tuesday.
When the four days of swimming ended at the National Aquatic Centre in Balmain, Couva, Bahamas, made a successful defence of their team title with 979 points, with Jamaica a distant second with 795.5, and T&T third with 735, while the Cayman Islands (477.5) and Aruba (469) completed the top five nations.
On the final night, T&T swimmers tallied nine gold, the most by any team, as well as three silver and three bronze medals each to end with 57 medals and second on the medal table, behind the Bahamas, who won 74 medals, inclusive of 27 gold, 23 silver and 24 bronze, while Jamaica was third with 56 medals (21 gold, 19 silver and 16 bronze), with the Cayman Islands ending with 32 medals (13 gold, 10 silver and nine bronze), the same as Barbados, who secured 11 gold, nine silver and 12 bronze.
Last year in the Bahamas, T&T captured 58 medals (24 gold, 15 silver, and 19 bronze) to finish second on the medal table, behind champions and hosts the Bahamas, among the 25 countries, while in 2023, T&T secured 54 medals (22 gold, 16 silver, and 16) for 534 points to finish third, behind champions the Bahamas, who captured 85 medals (37 gold, 27 silver, and 21 bronze) for 1,113 points, and the Cayman Islands finished in the second spot with 53 medals (25 gold, 16 silver, and 12 bronze) for 752 points.
The 16-year-old Carrington won his seventh individual gold medal and second on the night for ten golds overall when he touched the wall in 22.75 seconds in the 15-17 boys 50m freestyle, with countryman Evan Gillard-Bruce second in 23.22 and St Lucian Tristan Dorville third in 23.48.
The first gold medal of the night for Carrington, who attends the prestigious Bolles High School in Florida, came six events earlier in the 15-17 boys 400m freestyle in four minutes, 07.08 seconds, just ahead of Aruban Inald Fernandes, who touched the wall in four minutes, 07.77 seconds, with Bermudan Thomas Cechini, third in four minutes, 07.78 seconds.
He then won his third individual gold when he just missed out on bettering the 15-17 boys 200m backstroke record of two minutes, 04.44 seconds when he touched the wall in two minutes, 04.88 seconds, well clear of Cayman Islands’ Luke Higgo, who got second in two minutes, 12.14 seconds, and Jamaican Brady Lewison, the bronze medallist, in two minutes, 13.21 seconds.
Just as he had done the three previous nights, Carrington then spearheaded the 15-17 boys relay team to gold in record time.
This time, Jaden Mills swam the lead-off leg in the 200m freestyle followed by Gillard-Bruce, Zachary Anthony and Carrington for a combined time of one minute, 33.29 seconds, which improved on the previous record mark of one minute, 34.46 seconds held by the 2023 T&T quartet of Nikoli Blackman, Giovanni Rivas, Anthony and Zarek Wilson.
Anthony was the first swimmer to win gold for the host country on the final night as he outswam his rivals in the 15-17 boys 800m freestyle with a time of eight minutes, 40.75 seconds, with Cayman Islands’ Dominic Hilton second in eight minutes, 40.79 seconds, and US Virgin Islands’ Daryan Maynard third in eight minutes, 50.64 seconds.
In the 13-14 girls 400m freestyle, Zara Persico (4:46.22 minutes) and Marena Martinez (4:46.44 minutes) added silver and bronze, respectively, behind the US Virgin Islands’ Reagan Uszenski, who won yet another gold medal in 4:32.94 minutes.
Ethan McMillan-Cole joined the ‘Gold Party’ for the host by topping the field in the 13-14 boys 100 breaststroke in one minute, 10.64 seconds, followed by Bahamian Alexander Murray in one minute, 11.10 seconds, and his teammate David Singh, who ended in one minute, 11.26 seconds.
Catherine Diefenthaller also swam to gold for the locals in the next event, the 15-17 girls 100m breaststroke, in one minute 14.28 seconds, beating Antigua & Barbuda’s Ellie Shaw (1:14.62 minutes) and Bahamian Elyse Wood (1:17.01 minutes) into second and third, respectively.
Taylor Marchan won her first individual event of the competition when she stormed home in the 13-14 girls 200m backstroke event in two minutes, 27.29 seconds, followed to the wall by Curacao’s Gabrielle Johannes in two minutes, 32.09 seconds, and Bahamian Skyler Smith in two minutes, 33.78 seconds.
Ferguson secured another gold as she dominated her rivals in the 15-17 girls 200m backstroke in two minutes, 14.53 seconds to lower her own record of two minutes, 16.04 seconds, which she set last year in the Bahamas, while Jamaican Carolyn Levy-Powell was second in two minutes, 24.29 seconds, and Riley Watson, of the Cayman Islands, was third in two minutes, 27.51.
Zalayhar Lewis added a silver medal in the 11-12 girls 100m breaststroke in one minute, 23.54 seconds to finish behind Bahamian Isabella Munroe, who took gold in one minute, 22.64, while Sienna Campbell of the Bahamas got bronze in one minute, 24.30 seconds.
The 11-12 boys foursome of Khristian Allen, Dimitri Phillip, Julis Ennals, and Elihu Brown combined for bronze in the 200m freestyle relay in one minute, 53.07 seconds, behind the Bahamas (1:48.78) and Aruba (1:52.95), while the 13-14 girls quartet of Persico, Breanna Belmar, her twin sister Raegan Belmar, and Asia-Marie Pouchet earned a bronze medal in the 200m freestyle relay in one minute, 52.88 seconds after finishing behind Jamaica (1:49.88) and the Bahamas (1:51.44).
Final Carifta Aquatics Points standings (133 events)
Position*Teams*Points
1*Bahamqs*979
2*Jamaica*795.5
3.T&T*735
4. Cayman Islands*477.5
5. Aruba*469
6. Barbados*461
7. Martinique*327
8. Antigua & Barbuda*217
9. US Virgin Islands*173
10. St Lucia*148
11. Grenada*112
12. St Vincent and The Grenadines*75
13. Suriname*62
14. Haiti*46
15. Curacao*44.5
15. Bermuda*44.5
17. Guadeloupe*40
18. Sint Maarten*7
19. Turks & Caicos*4
20. Belize*2
20. Belize*2
Final Carifta Aquatics Medal standings (133 events)
Position*Teams*Gold*Silver*Bronze*Total
1*Bahamas*27*23*24*74
2*T&T*23*17*17*57
3*Jamaica*21*19*16*56
4*Cayman Islands*13*10*9*32
5. Barbados*11*9*12*32
6. US Virgin Islands*6*2*4*12
7. Aruba*5*15*10*30
8. Antigua & Barbuda*4*7*6*17
9. St Lucia*4*3*6*13
10. Haiti*4*0*0*4
11. Grenada*1*7*3*11
12. Martinique*1*3*7*11
13. SVG*1*2*3*6
14. Suriname*0*2*1*3
15. Curacao*0*2*0*2
16. Guadeloupe*0*1*0*1
17. Bermuda*0*0*3*3
FINA Age-Group High Point winners
Girls
11-12: Kaija Eastmond (B’dos) - 641 points
13-14: Skyelar Richards (Jam) - 727
15-17: Zuri Ferguson (T&T) - 779
Boys
11-12: Dexter Russell (Bah) - 515 points
13-14: Noland Barrett (Jam) - 698
15-17: Liam Carrington (T&T) - 830
Individual Age-Group winners:
Girls
11-12
1. Sapphire Parks (St Luc) - 65
2. Kaija Eastmond (B’dos) - 62
3. Kai Lawson (Jam) - 58
13-14
1. Reagan Uszenski (USVI) - 64
2. Skyelar Richards (Jam) - 61
3. Marena Martinez (T&T) - 38
15-17
1. Sierrah Broadbelt (Cayman Islands) - 56
2. Heidi Stoute (B’dos) - 51
3. Zuri Ferguson (T&T) - 45
Boys
11-12
1. Dexter Russell (Bah) - 56
2. Alessandro Bazzoni (A&B) - 47
3. Zayron Werleman (Aruba) - 46
13-14
1. Lev Fahy (Cayman Islands) - 66
2. Noland Barrett (Jam) - 58
3. David Singh (Bah) - 43
15-17
1. Liam Carrington (T&T) - 79
2. Dominic Hilton (Cayman Islands) - 45
3. Zachary Anthony (T&T) - 43
