With five gold, six silver and eight bronze medals, Barbados are in sixth place out of 17 countries at the 18th Caribbean Islands Swimming Championships which are being held in Oranjestad, Aruba.
Winning gold were Hannah Gill in the 11 to 12 Girls’ 200-metre freestyle in 2 minutes, 15.64 seconds; Kendi Bynoe in the 11 to 12 Girls’ 200-metre butterfly in 2:39.09 and Kimberley Willoughby with 5:27.22 in the 13 to 14 Girls’ 400-metre individual medley (IM).
Christian Selby took the 13 to 14 Boys’ 1 500-metre free in 17:04.50, and Matthew Courtis, who was shut out of the medals at the CARIFTA Championships, won gold in the 15 to 17 Boys’ 200-metre fly in 2:13.12.
Courtis also won silver in the 400-metre individual medley in 4:50.24, and Raymond Edwards, campaigning in the 18 and over age group, was second in the 200-metre breaststroke in 2:27.93.
Gill also won silver in the 100-metre free in 1:02.85 and Kai Proverbs was second in 13 to 14 Girls’ 200-metre breaststroke in 2:57.18. Sariyah Sherry was a double silver medallist in the 200- and 800-metre freestyle in 2:13.51 and 9:42.49, respectively in the 13 to 14 age group.
Selby also picked up bronze in the 200 freestyle in 2:00.06 and Sherry won her third medal with 27.88 seconds in the 50-metre freestyle.
The other bronze medallists were Alexis Clarke with 9:43.15 in the 800-metre freestyle behind Sherry Bynoe with 1:12.12 in the 100-metre fly and Damon St Prix with a time of 2:35.36 in the 11 to 12 Boys’ 200-metre fly.
Barbados only had two relays and they did not disappoint. The 11 to 12 Girls of Gill, Bynoe, Tiffany Titus and Reanna James were third in the 400-metre freestyle relay in 4:27.08 and two races later, the 13 to 14 team of Sherry, Proverbs, Clarke and Willoughby were also third in 4:20.09.
The other bronze medal came in the 14 to 17 Boys’ 5K open water swim. Breaststroke specialist Gabriel Gunby proved he was among the best in the very competitive event, taking third place behind two Puerto Rican swimmers.
The meet was scheduled to conclude last night, with most of the Barbadians advancing to the finals in search of more medals. (SAT)
