Saint Lucia secures 9th place in CARIFTA Aquatic championships, check recap!

Saint Lucia secured 9th place in the 36th CARIFTA Aquatic Championships 2023 by winning 11 medals, such as seven gold, three silver and one bronze medal.

Saint Lucia secures 9th place in CARIFTA Aquatic championships, check recap!
Saint Lucia secures 9th place in CARIFTA Aquatic championships, check recap! Image Credits: Facebook

Castries, Saint Lucia: Saint Lucia secured 9th place in the 36th CARIFTA Aquatic Championships 2023 by winning 11 medals, such as seven gold, three silver and one bronze medal. 

After four days of fierce competition, the curtains came down on the swimming aspect of the 36th CARIFTA Aquatic Championships, the only aspect of the Aquatics competition that TEAM 758 participated in.

Constance Rene, who works with the government of Saint Lucia, took to Facebook to laud Team Saint Lucia for its exceptional performance in the CARIFTA Aquatics Championship. She added, “We are hoping to diversify our aquatic activities and hopefully have swimmers in the open water, water polo and artistic swimming segments in the not too distant future as we have young men and women throughout the length and breadth of Saint Lucia who do have the natural ability.” 

At the end of the competition, team 758 captured the overall 9th place with the combined men and women team score of 155 points and 7th place men.

SILVER for Saint Lucia’s Jeremiah Felix in U20 men’s pole vault at the CARIFTA Games. He repeats as silver medallist. It’s the 8th CARIFTA medal in this event for Saint Lucia, the second most successful for Saint Lucia, after high jump

Antoine Destang, swam his way to overall 13-14 high points winner, and the highest FINA points in his age group for his impressive swim in the 100 metre freestyle. He also set three CARIFTA age group records which she believe is a first for Saint Lucia. 

Antoine swam phenomenally and captured seven gold and three silver medals. This is the second time that a Saint Lucian has won the 13-14 age group high points trophy. That award was earned by Tristan Dorville at last year’s staging of the championship in Barbados.

Team Saint Lucia walked away with seven gold medals, three silver medals and one bronze medal. Naima swam her way to a bronze medal in her pet event ; the 50 metre breaststroke.

Antoine and Naima Sidney Hazell were the two medal winners.

Fayth Jeffrey, Tristan Dorville, Noah Dorville, D’Andre Blanchard, Naekeisha Louis and Ethan Hazell and Karic Charles all worked tirelessly to make positive contributions to team moral and contribute points to team Saint Lucia, and they are extremely proud of all of their efforts. 

Further, she also shared a recap of the four days of CARIFTA Aquatics Championship. The Cayman National Junior Swim team arrived in Curacao, a country known for its passion for Baseball, with a “swing for the fences” attitude. Over the past 4 days of double headers, these young athletes stepped up to the starting blocks focused and determined to deliver even more points for their team.

On night four, a balanced line-up of swimmers contributed points on the board. Jillian Crooks, holder of the 100m Freestyle Carifta record, added the 50m Freestyle Carifta record in spectacular fashion, by clocking in at 26.08. Dominic Gunn placed 5th in the 13-14-year-old category.

Harper Barrowman hit for the Freestyle “Cycle”, adding the 400m gold medal to her previous winning performances in the 800m, 200m, and 1500m distances. Teammate James Allison ran his streak to the medal stand to three nights in a row by claiming silver in the 15-17-year-old men’s age group in the same event. Impressive 400m performances were also turned in by Cassidy Coles, Lev Fahy, and Chase Watson in the 11-12-year-old age groups.

Sierrah Broadbelt and teammate Riley Watson produced a spectacular “double play”, going one, two in the 200m Backstroke final. Broadbelt, after sweeping the Butterfly, Backstroke, and Individual Medley series in the 13–14-year-old age group, also secured bronze in her 50m Freestyle final. Higgo kept the fireworks going, racing away from the field to win gold in the 15-17-year-old age group backstroke final. 

Anna Oldfield gained valuable experience, placing 6th in her 11-12 age group. Will Sellars and Lev Fahy collected silver and bronze medals, respectively in their age groups with tremendous efforts. Earlier in the day, Tate Marr swam well in his 200m heat, narrowly missing a spot in the finals.

The 100m Breaststroke series produced no medals, but Rufy Lovett, Kaitlyn Sullivan, and Jordan Lisle all shaved times off their preliminary swims and kept the momentum going. Late night drama came in the form of the 4 x 50 Freestyle relay. Sofia Bonati anchored the gold winning 15-17-year-old relay team along with Crooks, Higgo, and Barrowman.

They received an assist from teammate Ava Butler, who was stellar in the qualifying heat earlier in the day. The 13-14 girls, Broadbelt, Watson, Oldfield and Lisle bagged a bronze with the 11-12 relay team of Cassidy Coles, Anna Oldfield, Lucy Butler, and Francesca Altamura performing admirably in their heat, barely edged out in their quest for the medal stand.

It has been quite a road trip so far for the Cayman Team, with the Open Water competitors now ready to step up to the plate for the final innings in Caracas Baai, Curacao.