T&T’s Open Water swimmer Christian Marsden lived-up to his pre-race hype when he took gold in the 15-17 boys Open Water swim at Carlisle Bay, the final day of the 30th Carifta Swimming Championship in Barbados, yesterday.

It was the lone Open Water medal for the T&T contingent to place fifth with 15 points. The other T&T Open Water participants were Shania David who was eighth in the 15-17 girls age-group while the the trio of Gabriel Bynoe (seventh), Graham Chatoor (eighth) and Sabrina David (eight) had low placings in their respective 13-14 races.

On Tuesday night at the National Aquatic Centre in Wildey, T&T failed to add to its gold medal haul of 12 but picked up four silver and two bronze to end with 38 medals overall (12 gold, 13 silver, 13 bronze) and third spot with 494.5 points.

Bahamas kept hold of its title with 756 points and 54 medals (29 gold, 17 silver, 8 bronze) while host Barbados was second with 642.5 points and 52 medals, its most in history (30 gold, 12 silver, 10 bronze).

Leading the way for T&T on the fourth and final night of swimming was boys 13-14 Age-Group High Point second placed finisher Jeron Thompson, who picked up silver medals in the 50-metre freestyle (25.19 seconds) and 100m backstroke (1:10.40 minutes).

The other silver winners on the night for the T&T contingent under the guidance of first year head coach Chabeth Haynes were Amira Pilgrim (115-15 girls 50m freestyle in 27.31); Jahmia Harley, the 11-12 girls High Point bronze finisher, in the 200m backstroke in 2:38.64, and the 15-17 boys 4x50m freestyle relay combination of Justin Samlalsingh, Jabari Baptiste, Osaze Riley and Canada-based Adrian Goin in 1:36.49.

Harley also added a bronze in the 400m freestyle (4:53.22) and Baptiste did likewise, in the 15-17 boys 50m freestyle in 24.26.

USA-based Tyla Martin, who won three individual gold medals for T&T, also got third spot in the 15-17 girls Age-Group High Point competition.

Meanwhile, US and Olympic coach Todd Schmitz, the personal coach of American multi-Olympic and World gold medallist Missy Franklin will begin a three-day clinic today at the Dr Joao Havelange Centre of Excellence Swimming Pool, Macoya as well as St Joseph’s College, St Joseph.

Speaking on the team’s arrival at the Piarco International Airport yesterday, head coach Haynes, said, “We were glad to improve on our fifth place finish last year.

“It was a tough meet and our team featured quite a few newcomers however, the experienced and seasoned swimmers were able to pull out big points in crucial events for us to secure third spot.”

Looking ahead Haynes said she was sure the younger swimmers gained a lot from the experience as well as from the more senior local and foreign based swimmers over this tour.

Final results

Final medal table

Team G S B Tot

Barbados 30 12 10 52

Bahamas 29 17 8 54

T&T 12 13 13 38

Aruba 10 13 12 35

Guadeloupe 8 11 6 25

Suriname 6 8 7 21

Cayman Islands 5 4 5 14

Bermuda 4 8 10 22

Grenada 3 1 6 10

Jamaica 2 9 14 25

Final points table

Team Points

1 Bahamas 756

2 Barbados 642.5

3 T&T 494.5

4 Guadeloupe 478

5 Jamaica 466

6 Aruba 348.5

7 Cayman Islands 289

8 Surinam 271

9 Bermuda 259

10 Martinique 229

Source

Ephraim Serrette, president of the National Association of Athletics Administrations (NAAA) says his executive plans to overhaul the development systems for athletes across four disciplines in track and field, namely hurdles, sprint, medium and long jump, in a deliberate effort to bolster this country’s medal hunt internationally.

He was speaking to the T&T Guardian at Piarco International Airport, on Tuesday, where he was part of the welcoming party which applauded the T&T 2015 Carifta Games team on its return from the 44th Carifta Games in St Kitts and Nevis with six gold, eight silver and eight bronze medals for third place.

Serrette, a former national athlete himself, said he believed that the move to overhaul various aspects of the sports had become critical, as the developmental regime across these disciplines was too adhoc.

With no clear guidelines in place, Serrette said, coaches had free reign regarding what benchmarks were used to nurture the nation’s athletes.

In order for this country to benefit from its investment in athletes, he said, a national quality control system was needed to match the jumps and throws events, which was already paying dividends.

“The time has come where we need to put our foot down where the national hurdles programme, sprint and medium and long needs to be introduced. The coaches need to mature and understand what we are doing and not just keep their athletes to themselves. We have to work together as a unit to produce our athletes to represent us on the big stage, he said.

Serrette lamented, however, that local performances at this year’s championships did not surpass the medal haul from the previous year.

“It was below our expectations. We knew we had a fairly–I wouldn’t say weak team–(but) it was a challenge for us this year…A number of issues. We only had four development meets, Carifta being early; the loss of use of the (Hasely Crawford) Stadium, which is allowing us to make decisions and plan even better for next year. Carnival is very early next year, so our developmental meets next year would start in November, to give the athletes more opportunities for competition. This year only allowed about four developmental meets and I think that is insufficient to guide us where the selections are concerned,” he said.

Stand out moments from this country’s athletes during competition at the Silver Jubliee Athletic Stadium, over the Easter weeknd, did not escape Serrette’s attention, however.

“Yes. Our under-18 athletes. We have a very interesting group of U-18 athletes. Some of the analysis that we are working on is our national programme–the jumps and throws–and we have seen results,” he said.

The NAAA head recalled the Tyriq Horseford record breaking throw in the boys U-18 javelin event and the champion performance by Akanni Hislop in the boys U-18 200m. Both athletes were from Tobago.

Serrette disclosed that before leaving local shores Hislop stated his intent to win the event and break the record in the process.

The Carifta record was 20.84. Hislop’s time was 20.91.

“I think that’s commendable. He also has another year competition in U-18 competition. I think he is someone we need to invest in because I think that out future,” Serrette said.

Akanni Hislop and Kayelle Clarke both won gold medals in the final session at the 44th Carifta Games to bring T&T's overall tally to 22 medals at the end of the meet at the Kim Collins Stadium in Basseterre, St Kitts, on Monday night.

T&T finished with six gold, eight silver and eight bronze to end third in the medal standings behind Jamaica (85) and Bahamas (31).

Entering the last session with 15 medals, T&T added two gold, four bronze and one silver including three 4x400metre medals.

Hislop, who entered the boys 200metre Under-18 final with the fastest time of 21.25 seconds, went under 21 seconds to win gold in 20.91.

It was a close battle for silver, but Javan Martin of the Bahamas prevailed in 21.16 ahead of Jamaican Xavior Angus in 21.17.

Clarke, who finished fourth in the girls 100m U-20 final, grabbed gold in the girls 200m U-20 in 23.12. Jamaican Saqukine Cameron claimed silver in 23.32, while Bahamian Keianna Albury won bronze in 23.49.

Snatching bronze in the boys long jump U-18 was Clement Campbell. Campbell saved his best for last disturbing the sand at the 6.86m mark in his last (sixth) jump. Jamaicans Pakito Dudley (7.03m) and Shammawi Wellington (7.02m) won gold and silver respectively.

After the T&T 4x100 teams picked up three medals on Sunday night, the 4x400 teams earned one silver and two bronze. Both the girls and boys U-20 4x400m teams won bronze, while the boys 4x400m U-18 quartet grabbed silver. The girls 4x400m U-18 team finished a disappointing fifth. On Sunday the girls 4x100m U-20 unit finished third, but was unfortunately disqualified for a baton exchange outside the zone.

The team returned home yesterday and both T&TOC president Brian Lewis and Sportt’s executive manager Anthony Creed were at the airport to greet them.

Results

​Boys 200m Under-18 Finals

1 Hislop, Akanni - T&T - 20.91

2 Martin, Javan - Bahamas - 21.16

3 Angus, Xavior - Jamaica - 21.17

Girls 200m U-20 Finals

1 Clarke, Kayelle - T&T - 23.12

2 Cameron, Saqukine - Jca - 23.32

3 Albury, Keianna - Bahamas - 23.49

Boys Long Jump U-18 Finals

1 Dudley, Pakito - Jamaica - 7.03m

2 Wellington, Shammawi - Jca - 7.02m

3 Campbell, Clement - T&T - 6.86m

Girls 100 M Hurdles U-20 Finals

1 Thompson, Yanique - Jca - 13.21

2 Williams, Jeanine – Jca - 13.40

3 Parris, Jeminise – T&T - 13.85

Boys 4x400m Relay U-18 Finals

1 Jamaica - 3:12.07

2 T&T - 3:14.23 (Kobe John, Terry Frederick, Judah Taylor, Jacob St Clair)

3 Bahamas - 3:18.12

Girls 4x400m Relay U-20 Finals

1 Jamaica - 3:37.96

2 British Virgin Islands - 3:46.43

3 T&T - 3:47.55 (Thyla-Maree Scott, Kayelle Clarke, Jeunice Maxime, Jeminise Parris)

Standings

Country G S B Total

Jamaica 41 25 19 85

Bahamas 8 13 10 31

T&T 6 8 8 22

Barbados 7 4 5 16

Grenada 1 3 4 8

Source