Barbados opens account in 2022 CARIFTA Swimming championships

AFTER having some mixed fortunes in Saturday’s morning session of the 2022 CARIFTA Swimming Championships, the Barbados team bounced back in the evening to take home their first pieces of hardware. With Barbados stepping in to carry the competition after St. Lucia found it challenging to fulfil their commitments as host nation this year, the local team has been holding their own against the close to 20 countries contesting the 35th edition of the competition.
Adara Stoddard set the pace for the home team in the 15-17 Girls 200 Metre Breaststroke as she beat out the field for the first Gold medal for Barbados. She clocked 2:43.34 minutes over the distance to knock off her own age group record and national record of 2:46.37, leaving Kaitlyn Sullivan of the Cayman Islands (2:49.46) and Rhanishka Gibbs of the Bahamas to sort out second and third between themselves.
Jaiya Simmons doubled her joy on the night with two Gold medals. First, she took a slim win in the Girls 11-12 50 Metre Backstroke, touching the wall in 32.77 seconds ahead of Bermuda’s Violet Smith with 33.24 and Malia Soroman of St. Maarten who had 33.31. She then put almost two seconds between herself and Saleste Gibson of the Bahamas in the 100 Metre Butterfly. Simmons’ time of 1:08.58 minutes ensured that she would be at the top of the podium a second time on the night, while
Gibson took her Silver medal with 1:10.49. Lelah Lewis of the Bahamas was third in 1:11.36.
Zachary Burke brought home some bacon himself with a Silver medal in the 11-12 50 Metre Backstroke when he finished hot on the heels of Luke Higgo of the Cayman Islands. Higgo was good for 31.59 seconds, while Burke clocked 32.27 ahead of his teammate Tariq Greenidge who finished in 32.52 seconds for the Bronze.
Victor Ashby also snagged a Silver medal when he chased Jayden Davis of the Turks and Caicos Islands all the way to the end in the 11-12 100 Metre Butterfly. Davis clocked 1:06.47 minutes for the win and Ashby did not make it easy for him as he finished in 1:06.66. Third place and the Bronze went to Matthew Kennedy of Jamaica (1:08.23).
The medals did not stop there as the hosts picked up two more Gold medals as the 11-12 Girls and Boys both won their 4X100 Metre Freestyle Relay events. ToriaAlleyne,AyobamiLeon-Barkerand Heidi Stoute joined Jaiya Simmons in the medal haul and together they clocked 4:16.33 minutes – just outside of a 2017 record of 4:16.14. They led the Bahamas (4:29.74) and Jamaica (4:35.62) home to settle for Silver and Bronze respectively.
Similarly, Ashby and Greenidge, who both medalled earlier in the night, were joined by Brendan Gill and Brennan Watson to put together 4:11.35 for their win. Jamaica were next to finish with 4:17.47, while the Bahamas were good for Bronze. Two records did fall on the night as Lila Higgo of the Cayman Islands clocked 30.19 seconds in the 13-14 Girls Backstroke to knock off 30.36 set in 2017 by Gabriela Donahue, while Sabrina Lyn of Jamaica touched
the wall in 1:02.14 in the 15-17 Girls 100 Metre Butterfly. The old mark was 1:02.54 set in 2008 by Arianna Vanderpool.