7 hours ago
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Senior Multimedia Reporter
Ethan McMillan-Cole and Liam Carrington were the lone gold medal winners for T&T on the opening night of finals at the 39th Carifta Aquatics Championships at the Pierre Samot Community Aquatic Centre, Le Lamentin, Martinique, on Saturday.
In addition to the two gold medals, T&T swimmers also bagged five silver and three bronze to end the first day of competition in the annual 24-nation championships with ten medals (two gold, five silver and three bronze).
The 14-year-old McMillian-Cole swam to this country’s first gold medal of the competition when he sped home in the 13-14 Boys’ 200m breaststroke in two minutes, 28.25 seconds, well clear of silver medallist Kione Deshong of St Vincent, who touched the wall in two minutes, 39.53 seconds, and Aruban Leandro Santiesteban’s time of two minutes, 39.93 seconds, with T&T’s other finalist, Kyle Leera, fifth in two minutes, 43.43 seconds.
The winner of seven individual gold medals and three in relay events last year on home soil, Carrington, 17, opened his medal account in this year’s event by storming to victory in a new games record time of 25.47 seconds, with the Cayman Islands’ duo, Luke Higgo (26.51), and Lev Fahy (26.86), second and third respectively.
Earlier on the night, Marena Martinez, 14, won T&T’s first medal, a silver in the 13-14 Girls’ 800m freestyle time finals in nine minutes, 38.52 seconds, to finish well adrift of gold medal winner US Virgin Islands’ Reagan Uszenski, who powered to victory in nine minutes, 20.15 seconds, with Guadeloupe’s Thea Jean-Phillippe third in nine minutes, 54.59 seconds.
The 11-year-old Serenity Pantin added to T&T’s medal haul with a second-placed finish in the 11-12 Girls’ 50m backstroke in 31.99 seconds, just shy of gold medal winner Jamaican Daniella Powell, who won in 31.94, with St Lucian Sapphire Parks taking the bronze in 32.27, while fellow T&T swimmer Zahara Anthony was eighth in 34.21.
Anthony, 12, had much better fortune in the 11-12 Girls’ 100m butterfly as she secured a silver medal with a time of one minute, 09.95 seconds, to trail St Lucian Parks, who won in one minute, 08.04 seconds, with Barbadian Gabriella Babb earning bronze in one minute, 13.45 seconds, and T&T’s other entrant, Katelon Leera, eighth in one minute, 16.25 seconds.
There was a bright start to the 4×100 freestyle relays for T&T, with the quartet of Pantin, Na’Zya George, Leera and Anthony combining for silver in the 11-12 Girls category in four minutes, 24.99 seconds, just edged out by the Bahamas, who won in four minutes, 23.78 seconds, with Jamaica third in four minutes, 28.49 seconds.
However, after some near misses in the other age groups, it was left to the 15-17 boys’ foursome of Isaiah Alexander, Anpherne Bernard, Carrington and Jadon Ramdeen to end the night with another silver medal in three minutes, 31.24 seconds, after a close battle with eventual winners Jamaica, who won in a time of three minutes, 30.61 seconds.
The trio of Micah Alexander, Bernard and Carrington also picked up individual bronze medals on the opening night for T&T.
The 12-year-old Alexander was third in the 11-12 Boys’ 200m breaststroke in two minutes, 58.87 seconds, with teammate Taylan Daiz, fourth in two minutes, 59.96 seconds, as both T&T men finished behind Barbadian Christian Vanderpool, who won in two minutes, 46.27 seconds, and Bahamian Logan Comarcho, the runner-up in two minutes, 57.61 seconds.
Alexander also had a near miss in the 50m backstroke when he placed fourth in 31.96 seconds, pipped to the wall by host swimmer Lucas Wato, who touched in 31.94; St Lucian Tyler Dantes was the winner in 31.61, and Cayman Islands’ Aadhyaan Agarwal was second in 31.66, while T&T’s Julius Ennals was sixth in 32.72.
Bernard got to the wall in the 15-17 Boys’ 200m breaststroke in two minutes, 27.62 seconds, which was only bettered by Bahamian Tristen Hepburn’s time of two minutes, 24.66 seconds, and Martinique’s Lucas Patron, who got home in two minutes, 25.93.
And in the 15-17 Boys’ 100m butterfly, Carrington’s time of 56.55 seconds was upstaged by Haitian Christian Jerome’s mark of 55.23 and St Lucian Antoine Destang’s 56.36, with T&T’s Jaden Mills, 16, fifth in the same event in 57.85.
Last night, the T&T swimmers went after more silverware in the finals of the boys’ and girls’ 200m freestyle, 50m butterfly, 100m backstroke, 400m individual medley (slow heats) and the 4x100m medley relay finals.
Leading the charge were Anthony and Pantin, who contested three finals each, while Zara Persico, Carrington, Katelon Leera, and Valentine qualified for two finals each.
The other finalists last night were Ennals, Martinez, Nikois Baptiste, Mills, Jonathan Sambrano, Micah Alexander, Taylor Marcha, Isaiah Alexander and Anya Davis.
The competition resumes today from 9 am.
T&T other first night finalists
200m breaststroke
Katelon Leera (11-12 Girls’) – fifth – 3:06.07 minutes
Raegan Belmar (15-17 Girls’) – seventh- 2:57.22 mins
50m backstroke
Xaiden Valentine (13-14 Boys’) – fifth – 29.42 seconds
100m butterfly
Marena Martinez (13-14 Girls’) – eighth – 1:10.74 mins
Xaiden Valentine (13-14 Boys’) – fifth – 1:02.95 mins
Kyle Leera (13-14 Boys’) – sixth – 1:03.42 mins
4×100 freestyle relays
11-12 Boys’ (Micah Alexander, Eli Edwards, Taylan Diaz, Julius Ennals) – sixth – 4:26.70 mins
13-14 Girls’ (Zara Persico, Taylor Marchan, Zalayhar Lewis, Marena Martinez) – fourth – 4:14.94 mins
13-14 Boys’ (Nikosi Baptiste, Ethan Mc Millan-Cole, Xaiden Valentine, Kyle Leera) – fourth – 3:55.45 mins
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