Alexander lands Goodwill gold in St Lucia

Senior Multimedia Reporter

nigel.simon@guardian.co.tt

Micah Alexander won T&T’s first individual gold medal while there were three more relay titles when the 28th Goodwill Swimming Championship, hosted by the St Lucia Aquatics Federation, continued at the Rodney Heights Aquatic Centre, Gros Islet, St Lucia, on Saturday.

Overall, the T&T swimmers who tallied 14 medals on Friday (one gold, six silver, and seven bronze) added 23 more medals on the second night (four gold, ten silver, and nine bronze) to carry their two-day total to 37 medals (five gold, 16 silver, and 16 bronze).

Defending champion Bahamas was well on the way to retaining its title going into yesterday’s final day of the three-day meet with a stunning 101 medals (42 gold, 30 silver, and 29 bronze), while Jamaica with 34 medals (15 gold, 11 silver, and eight bronze) was second on the medal table, Barbados, third with 38 medals (eight gold, 11 silver, and 19 bronze), and T&T, fourth.

The other medal winners included Suriname with 26 (eight gold, nine silver, and nine bronze); St. Lucia with seven (three gold, eight silver, and three bronze); and Antigua and Barbuda with four gold medals.

For T&T, Alexander swam to gold when he won the 9-10 boys 100m breaststroke in one minute, 27.65 seconds, well ahead of Bahamians Logan Camarcho (1:28.49) and Kymani Cooper (1:29.59).

The Eight and Under Girls 200m medley relay foursome of Sydney Ross, N’Neka Antoine, Arsiah Gill, and Chloe-Mari Julien combined for gold in two minutes, 55.98 seconds, with Barbados a distant second in 3:02.73 minutes and the Bahamas third in 3:03.75.

The quartet of Serenity Pantin, Katelon Leera, Zahara Anthony, and Athalia Gidding, winners of T&T’s lone gold medal on Friday, combined for yet another gold in the 9-10 Girls 200m medley relay in two minutes, 23.68 seconds, to beat Barbados (2:29.67) and Bahamas (2:31.80) into the second and third spots, respectively.

And in the 9-10 boys 200m medley relay, Eli Edwards, Marcus Nesbitt, Alexander, and Zion George also won gold in two minutes, 22.76 seconds, with Barbados second in 2:25.16 and Jamaica third in 2:25.18.

Alexander was also a silver medal winner in the 50m butterfly in 33.47 seconds, with Jamaican Caelan Clover swimming to gold in 33.42 and Suriname’s Jean-Nathan Sariman swimming to bronze in 33.73.

Anthony swam to silver for T&T in the 9-10 Girls 200 individual medley in two minutes, 49.83 seconds, to finish behind Bahamian Isabella Munroe (2:44.18 minutes), while Barbadian Gabriella Babb took bronze in 2:52.09.

Jadon Ramdeen secured silver in the 13-14 Boys 200 individual medley in two minutes, 25.25 seconds, with Bahamian Rafael Mc Broom, the winner in 2:19.11 minutes, and his compatriot Noah Knowles, third in 2:27.11.

Anya Davis was second in the 15-17 Girls 200m individual medley when she touched the wall in two minutes, 37.36 seconds, just behind Jamaican Renae Chung’s time of 2:36.57 minutes, with Barbadian Toni Walrond third in 2:37.83.

Davis added another silver medal when he raced home in one minute, 22.06 seconds, in the 100 m breaststroke, with Bahamian Tia-Isabella Adderley the winner in 1:17.56, a new meet record, while Barbadian Allysa Rochedford got third in 1:25.24.

Quillon Leera added a silver in the 15-17 boys 200m individual medley with a time of 2:16.71, with Donald Saunders of the Bahamas, the winner, in 2:14.70, a new record time, while Suriname’s Joshua Busropan was third in 2:18.11.

Qadir Lewis was second in the 13-14 Boys 100m breaststroke in one minute, 12.68 seconds, behind Bahamian Mc Broom (1:12.14), while his countryman Jahan Chatlani-Pickstock was third in 1:13.14.

Sydney Ross secured her first individual medal with a second-place finish in the Eight and Under Girls 50m butterfly in 41.29 seconds, with teammate Arsiah Gill taking bronze in 42.33 and Antigua and Barbuda’s Isabel Nicholas taking gold in 37.89.

Ramdeen swam the lead-off leg, followed by Lewis, Mackay Burgess, and Chael Joseph for the 13-14 Boys 200m medley relay quartet, as they copped silver in one minute, 58.89 seconds, to trail the Bahamas (1:56.04), while Jamaica took third in 2:00.68.

Davis picked up a third silver medal on the night when she teamed up with Siddhi Sieusankar, Toni-Rae Yates, and Jalena Coutain for silver in the 15-17 Girls 200m medley relay in 2:08.74, with the Bahamas touching the wall first in 2:06.71 and Barbados third in 2:17.92.

Anthony added a bronze in the 50-meter freestyle in 30.33 seconds, adrift of Bahamian Munroe, who established a new record of 29.08, while St. Lucian Sapphire Parks took silver in 30.19.

Mackay Burgess secured a bronze in the 14-14 Boys 50m freestyle, getting home in 25.54 seconds, with Suriname’s Sean-Verno Dipokromo, the winner in 25.05, and Bahamian Noah Knowles, second in 25.20.

Siddi Sieusankar was third in the 15-17 Girls 50m Freestyle with a time of 28.65, just shy of silver medallist Toni Walrond of Barbados, who clocked 28.64, while Jamaican Renae Chung took gold in 27.01, a new record.

Katelon Leera was third in the 9-10 Girls 100m breaststroke in one minute, 29.96, well behind Bahamian Munroe, who took home yet another gold medal in one minute, 24.23 seconds, with St Lucian Sapphire Parks taking silver in one minute, 25.83.

Leera (K) then got another third-place finish in the 50-meter butterfly in 33.45 seconds, with St. Lucian Parks grabbing gold in 31.72 and Bahamian Munroe grabbing silver in 32.28.

Toni-Rae Yates added to the bronze medal haul in a time of 30.87 in the 15-17 girls 50m butterfly, with Jamaican Chung taking the top spot in 30.21 and Bahamian Rayven Ward taking silver in 30.86.

Brandon Balfour was third in the 15-17 boys 50m butterfly in 26.62 seconds to finish behind the Bahamian duo of Caleb Ferguson (25.77), a new record, and Donald Saunders (26.46).

The 11-12 Girls 200m medley relay team of Ra’el Anatol-Morgan, Maeko Alexander, Kimari Antoine, and Khalise Noreiga took bronze in 2:22.95, well adrift of champions Bahamas (2:17.32), with Jamaica taking the second spot in 2:19.32.

Last year, T&T’s 18-year reign as champion of the annual Goodwill Swim Meet came to an end when the Bahamas emerged as new champions after the 27th edition of the Goodwill Swimming Championships, hosted by the Aquatic Sports Association of Jamaica on Sunday.

Following the end of the three days of intense competition among the swimmers at the National Aquatic Centre in Kingston, Jamaica, the Bahamas captured a stunning 129 medals, which comprised 55 gold, 45 silver, and 29 bronze, while Barbados was second on the medal table with 57 (23 gold, 16 silver, and 18 bronze), and T&T was third with 58 medals (21 gold, 18 silver, and 19 bronze), a far cry from the 125 medals won in winning a seventh straight crown at the National Aquatic Centre in Balmain, Couva last year, which comprised 50 gold, 40 silver, and 35 bronze) for 1,442 points.

The other finishers on the medal table were host Jamaica with 80 medals (17 gold, 27 silver, and 36 bronze), while Suriname was fifth with 31 medals, which comprised five gold, 12 silver, and 14 bronze.

In terms of points won, the Bahamas dominated with 1,418.5 points, with Jamaica taking the second spot with 1,143.5, T&T third with 970.5, Barbados fourth with 739.5, and Suriname fifth with 522.5 points.

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