AGE GROUP CHAMPIONS Kayla Smith and Danielle Titus led the Barbados contingent to third place at the 18th Goodwill Swimming Championships, which were held last month at the National Aquatic Centre, Guyana.
Smith topped the 8-and-Under age group and Titus the 9 to 10 as Barbados finished third with 900.5 points from 15 gold, 20 silver and 19 bronze medals.
Suriname were first with 1 507 points and Trinidad and Tobago second with 1 443.5 points.
Smith won gold medals in the 50M breaststroke in 44.56 seconds; the 100M Individual Medley (IM) in 1 minute 29.21 seconds; the 100M freestyle in 1:19.17 and the 50M free in 35.43 seconds.
She was also second in the 50M backstroke in 44.97 seconds. Smith teamed up with Aza Dunwoody, Chara Hinds and Amethyst McKenzie to take second spot in the 200M medley relay in 2:55.23 and the 200 freestyle relay in 2:39.71.
Titus’ victories came in the 200IM in 2:43.90; 50M backstroke in 34.59 seconds and the 100M back in a record 1:15.37.
 She was second in the 200 free in 2:25.95 and the 100 free in 1:07.68. Two more silver medals were picked up in the 400M medley relay (5:28.98) and 200 freestyle relay (2:08.61) with Ashley Weekes, Destiny Harding and Jade Ward. That same quartet was also third in the 400 freestyle relay in 4:51.34.
Harding also had an outstanding individual meet, setting three records.
She won the 100M butterfly in a record 1:13.29, the 100 free in 1:04.81, the 50 fly in another record of 32.47 seconds and the 50 free in 29.22 seconds, also dipping under the old mark of 29.59 set by Deandre Small five years ago.
She was third in the 200 free in 2:26.03.
There were other outstanding performances from Shannon Smith and Nicholas Hall, who were both third in the girls’ and boys’ 11 to 12 age group, respectively, as well as Jade Searles and Akeem Nurse, who were also third in their respective 13 to 14 age groups. (SAT)
