Records tumble in the pool

TWENTY-FIVE MEET records were shattered in the recent 19th Olympic Association Aquatic Centre International Invitational, which was powered by Powerade.The prestigious challenge trophy was once again won by a local swim club as perennial champs Alpha Sharks swam their way to 1737.50 points to clinch their ninth consecutive title.Pirates Swim Club held on to the second spot with 943 points while Cobra Swim Club of Canada were third with 444 points. All three top swim clubs maintained these positions in the individual girls’ and boys’ team scores.  The Alpha Sharks took the top spots in the female and male divisions with 990 and 747.50 points respectively while Pirates Swim Club secured 448 and 495 points for the second spot and Cobra scored 233 and 211 points. The competition, which featured 21 swim clubs from Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua & Barbuda, Bonaire, St Lucia, Grenada, Canada and Barbados attracted close to 350 swimmers.Local swimmers also captured a fair share of the high point trophies. Zabrina Holder of Alpha Sharks and Christian Selby from Pirates amassed the highest number of points in the female and male divisions respectively.Holder won the 13-14 age group with 109 points and was also the top female competitor overall. Selby’s 119 points made him the top boy in the 11-12 age group and the top male overall.Inayah Sherry took the top spot for the girls’ 11-12 with 84 points and was second overall in the female division while Kimberley Willoughby of Silver Fins took the second place  in the girls’ 11-12 age group with 58 points. Deandre Small of Alpha Sharks placed second in the 13-14 girls’ division with 77 points while her teammate, Jonanthan Manning was second in the 11-12 boys’ and second overall in the male division. Crystal Jordan Browne raked up 49 points to take the third spot in the 13-14 girls’ division. Akeem Nurse of Dolphins Swim Club secured the third spot in that age group with 63 points.Nurse made his first national cut in the 50-metre butterfly event and qualified to represent Barbados at the Caribbean Islands Swimming Championships this year. Raymond Edwards also met the standard in the 200-metre breaststroke event.Tiffany Titus made it to the top in the girls 9-10 age group with 56 points after a tough battle with Hannah Gill of Pirates, who placed second with 48 points. Shannon Smith of Dolphins Swim Club held on to third position with 43 points. The Alpha Sharks’ Damon St Prix rose to the top of his age group once again with 63 points. Archrival Jack Kirby from Pirates was second with 36 points and Alpha’s Kent Mullins third with 35 points. Youth Olympics qualifier Lee-Ann Rose was first in the 15-17 age group for the Alpha Sharks with 55 points. Alpha Sharks’ budding stars Cherise Mason and Nathan James swam their way to the top in the 8 and under age group with 52 and 51 points respectively while teammate Destiny Harding was close behind with 44 points.Of the 25 meet records broken, 13 of them were by locals while five national age group records were also established.Small moved the 50-metre backstroke mark in the girls’ 13-14 age group to 33:01, erasing St Lucia’s Siona Huxley’s old record. Holder made her mark in the 100-metre butterfly with 1:08.44, overwriting Kimberley John-Williams’ previous record. Sherry also established three meet records. She reduced the 100-metre freestyle record from 1:02.86 to 1:01.67; the 200-metre freestyle record from 2:18.20 to 2:17.70 and the 50-metre freestyle record from 28:76 to 28:51. Her swim in the 100-metre freestyle was also recorded as a national age group record and on the final day of the meet, she shaved a few splits off the 200-metre backstroke record, clocking 2:34.15 for a new national age group record.Olympian Nicky Neckles of Silver Fins also established three new meet records in the boys’ 15 and over age group. The Alpha Sharks 8 and under 4×50 medley girls’ relay team of Danielle Titus, Destiny Harding, Chante Moore and Cherise Mason also made their contribution by erasing the previous record established in 2004 clocking 2:56.32. Christian Selby of Pirates reduced his 1500-metre freestyle time to 17:46.88 to establish a new age group national record for the boys’ 11-12. (PR/EZS)