TEAM TTO’S GRAHAM CHATOOR CRUSHES NUMEROUS RECORDS TO EARN ROOKIE OF THE YEAR AWARD AT CONFERENCE CHAMPS

Trinidad and Tobago’s Graham Chatoor who competes for New York University showed no fear in swimming in the senior waters since his graduation from the junior ranks with a five star performance at the University Athletic Association championships at the University of Chicago from Feb 13 to 16.

Graham Chatoor Photo courtesy of gonyuathletics.com

Graham who was a regional standout in the middle to distance events in the the 50 metre pool at the junior level has been displaying his talents in the 25 yard pool for the Greenwich Village based University. By his third competitive outing in the 1000 yard freestyle he had overhauled Stefan Sharpe as the fastest swimmer from the twin island Republic in the event . Both Chatoor and Sharpe competed for the Marlins Swim club in Trinidad and Tobago. He did that by winning the event in 9:41.19 in dual meet against John Hopkins on Nov 17 last year eclipsing the mark of 9:41.30 set by Sharpe when competing for La Salle against Pennsylvannia on Feb 2,2013.

Stefan Sharpe Photo courtesy of goexplorers.com

When the meet got underway Chatoor’s best time in the 500 yard freestyle stood at 4:33.85 from the Kenyon Total Performance Invitational. He lowered that time in the morning heats and once again established himself as the fastest swimmer from Trinidad and Tobago with a new personal best of 4:30.35. That displaced another Sharpe standard of 4:32.60 from the 2014 Atlantic 10 Conference Championships . More records would be set in the final as the 2017 pool record of 4:28.16 by Emory’s Tom Gordon was in Graham’s sights. Gordon, a senior would be in the final as well and would not lose the record easily. In the final Chatoor set a fiery pace that most of the field could deal with .Only pool record holder Gordon tracked Chatoor and gave a valiant last 50 yards of 25.16 to close in on Graham. But it would not be enough as the Glenco native did enough earlier in the race to take the win and the pool record in 4:27.89.Gordon took Silver in 4:27.95,Rick Reinhard of Washington University won the Bronze in 4:30.88.

100 split comparisons	Chatoor	Gordon
100	50.49	51.70
200	1:44.87	1:46.43
300	2:39.64	2:41.33
400	3:34.67	3:36.22
500	4:27.89	4:27.95

With that swim Graham is now the ninth fastest swimmer in Division III and has the school record of 4:26.60 by Ian Rainey in his sights.

Before the start of the 1650 yard freestyle Graham’s personal best stood at 15:55.72 from a competition against MIT and Williams in January . That time would be destroyed in the timed final. Gordon would again be in the race contesting for the Gold. He would again try to use his late charging tactics . It would be a case of different race same treatment as Chatoor refused to to cede the title to him and won in a time of a huge personal by more than 30 seconds of 15:24.13. His winning swim place him second overall heading into the Division III championships to be held in
March 20-23 at the Greensboro Aquatic Center in Greensboro, North Carolina Gordon took the Silver in 15:24.20 with Richie Dauksher of Carnegie Mellon taking the Bronze in 15:44.27.

Records falling by wayside in Graham’s wake included school. pool records ,Team TTO record

1650 free	Time	Record holder	Year
Pool Record	15:33.93	Zane Turpin	2013
School record	15:26.26	Austin Palmer	2015
UAAA	15:26.52	Zane Turpin	2014

1000 free	Time	Record holder	Year
School record	9:22.29	Austin Palmer	2015
Team TTO	9:41.19	Chatoor	2018

Graham is just closing in on the the 1650 English speaking standard by Matt Lowe Knowles of 15:16.95 set in 2015.

Graham Chatoor powering his way to Gold Photo courtesy of gonyuathletics.com

Chatoor helped the Violets place fifth in the 800 yard freestyle relay in a time of 6:48.43. Graham contributed to the overall time with a second leg split of 1:42.95.

 

BLACK WINS GOLD,JAMAICAN JOSEPH BLACK HAS FANTASTIC DEBUT AT CONFERENCE CHAMPS FOR KENYON

Jamaican Joseph Black had a fantastic debut for Kenyon College at the North Coast Atlantic Conference which was held from Feb 13-16

Before the Conference Championships started in Granville Ohio Black had a personal best time of 45.01 from the Kenyon Total Performance Invitational on December. He relegated that time to history with morning heats time of 44.45 (split time 21.34) . That propelled him to the top of the rankings heading into the Championship final.When the race started Joseph found himself behind in third place at the first 25 yards with a split of 10.15.The race was led by the Denison duo of Matt McHugh 10.03 and Kymani Senior 10.12. It was at that point that Black took off and gained the advantage with a split of 21.16.He ramped up the pressure on the field with the fastest third 25 split of 11.63 and turn in 32.79. That would be a game changing turn of 32.79 ,the only sub 33 seconds time. The Denison pair of McHugh and Senior tried to charge on the last 25 but there was too much ground to make up.

Joseph celebrating the 100 free win

Black stretches before race

Black would hold on for the win in the second best time of his career of 44.62.Senior won Silver in 44.65 and McHugh the Bronze in 44.86 . The trio were the only swimmers under the 45 seconds mark. Black’s heats time places him inside of the top 10 heading to the Division III championships to be held in Greensboro North Carolina from March 20 to 23.

That time put him as the fifth fastest Jamaican ever over the distance in the 100 yard freestyle

Ranking Name Time Year College Division
1 Justin Plaschka 42.78 2017 Notre Dame I
2 Sion Brinn 43.83 1995 LSU I
3 Brad Hamilton 44.16 2009 University of North Carolina I
4 Jason Adams 44.34 2014 Dickinson college III
5 Joseph Black 44.45 2019 Kenyon III
6 Sidrell williams 44.61 2018 Howard University I
7 Nico Campbell 44.77 2018 Florida Southern College III
8 Timothy Wynter 45.24 2016 USC I
9 Keanan Dols 45.68 2017 UPENN 1
10 Chris Gayle 46.66 1992 Howard University I

Black would also claim victory in the 400 yard medley relay with the Lords as he swam the anchor freestyle to deny Denison the victory 3:16.06 to 3:16.23. Black would deny Denison’s McHugh the fastest split honours as he had faster opening split 44.03 to 44.04. Depauw finished some distance behind in 3:26.18

Relay splits

backstroke	Ben Baturka	49.50
breatstroke	Humphrey Pruett	54.54
butterfly	David Fitch	47.99
freestyle	Joseph Black	44.03
Total Time		3:16.06

That team performance is the fastest time in Division III.

The Gold rush would not stop there as the 200 yard freestyle relay saw another hard earned victory over Denison 1:21.13 to 1:21.42.Wabash won the Bronze in 1:22.82

Splits

David Fitch	20.66
Joseph Black	20.22
Tommy Weiss	19.85
Weston Carpenter	20.40
Team Time	1:21.13

Black en route to Silver and becoming the fastest Jamaican swimmer ever

The 100 yard breaststroke saw a Kenyon one two as Black won Silver in a time of 55.68 (split time 25.70) . The Gold went to teammate and senior Humprhey Pruett in 54.88. From the morning heats Black established himself as the fastest Jamaican ever in the event as he displaced Brad Hamilton’s Jamaica best from the 2012 ACC Championships of 56.62.

Brad Hamilton Photo courtesy of goheels.com

In the 400 yard freestyle relay Joseph again got the better of McHugh from Dension for the fastest opening leg 45.01 to 45.07. This time however the Big Red beat Kenyon 2:59.05 to 2:59.54. Wooster won the Bronze in 3:03.21.

Black getting off to a fast start in the morning heats

The 50 yard freestyle saw Black just outside the medals in new PB of 20.50 to place fourth. In the morning preliminaries he recorded his first time under 21 seconds with a swim of 20.57 .He is now in the top 10 rankings of fastest Jamaicans ever

Rank Name Time Year School Division
1 Justin Plaschka 19.30 2018 Notre Dame I
2 Jason Adams 19.80 2014 Dickinson college III
3 Sion Brinn 20.07 1995 LSU I
4 Brad Hamilton 20.09 2009 University of North Carolina I
5 Nico Campbell 20.49 2018 Florida Southern College III
6 SidrellWilliams 20.55 2018 Howard University I
7 Joseph Black 20.57 2019 Kenyon III
8 Timothy Wynter 20.64 2016 USC I
9 Chris Gayle 20.76 1992 Howard University I
10 Steven Moodie 21.00 2015 FIT III

Newcomer of the Year presentation Photo courtesy of NCAC

For his efforts that helped Kenyon Men finish second overall with 1829.5 points to Denison 1851 he was named Freshman Of The Year

Draftingthecaribbean caught up with Black on Feb 24 and he gave his thoughts about the Conference Championships and his outlook for the Division III championships

“So heading into the conference meet I was on the bubble of qualifying for NCAA’s.So I always had that in the back of my head knowing that this meet was either going to make it or break it on me going to Nationals.Being a freshman and accomplishing that much means a lot to me and the team as well.It was good racing Denison, our biggest rivals but losing to them was not only a humbling experience but also makes the team more hungry for Nationals”.

TORNADOES 13-14 400 METRE FREESTYLE RELAY TEAM OF SIERRA,HUNTER,HEAVEN AND LYN CRUSH MEET RECORD IN MORNING SESSION OF DAY 3 OF AGE GROUP CHAMPS

The morning session of Day Three of the Walter Rogers Age Group Champs had as the highlight the obliteration of the girls 13-14 400 metre freestyle relay record by the Tornadoes team.

Record setting Tornadoes 13-14 girls 400 freestyle relay team from left to right Aliyah Heaven,Ireland Hunter, Sabrina Lyn and Isabella Sierra Photo courtesy of Mike Critchlow

Since 2011 the old record had stood to the visiting Stingrays Swim Club of the Cayman Islands .The standard had stood to the team of Bethany Cleaver,Coral Tomascik,Lois Moody and Danielle Boothe. On Saturday Feb 23 the Tornadoes team of Isabella Sierra, Ireland Hunter, Aliyah Heaven and Sabrina Lyn laid waste to that time as they stopped the clock in a time of 4:16.80.They recorded the fastest female relay time of the day as well as beating back their opposition by more than 30 seconds.

Their teammates in the 13-14 boys age category got in on the record breaking act with a new standard setting swim of their own.The record in their sights belonged the 2015 Tornadoes team of Alex Mignott,Sean -Douglas Gooden,Jonathan Lyn and Jesse Marsh of 3:58.91.The team of Zachary Jackson-Blaine,Adrian Balfour,Daniel Mair and Nathaniel Thomas lowered that time to 3:57.85.

The fastest relay time of the day was posted by the Y Speedos team of Jordane Payne,Chester Adams, Akeem Alleyne and Kyle Sinclair of 3:52.33.

Sean-Douglas Gooden CARIFTA 2017 Photo courtesy of Michael C Lyn

In the 200 metre series Sean Douglas-Gooden of Tornadoes won his seventh title breaststroke in the event over the last eight years in a time of 2:40.57. Since his last year of 11-12 Gooden has been unbeaten save for a disqualification in 2015.

Britney Williams defending CARIFTA Champion in the 15-17 200 metre freestyle

Britney Williams of Swimaz Aquatics , the fastest ever locally trained mid to long distance freestyler and the defending CARIFTA champion ensured she was unbeaten in her three years of the 15-17 category as she took her event in a season best of 2:12.61.

Saifiya Officer CCCAN Bronze medallist in the Girls 11-12 50 metre freestyle Photo courtesy of Harold Wilson

There were also a number of close races as Safiya Officer of Swimaz just outlasted Sierra of Tornadoes in the girls 13-14 200 metre freestyle 2:22.52 to 2:22.98.Nathaniel Thomas got the decision over teammate Daniel Mair in the boys 13-14 race 2:08.35 to 2:08.85.

The fastest times of the day came from Y Speedos duo of Kyle Sinclair and Chester Adams who battled to the wall in times of 2:03.72 and 2:04.14 respectively.Other Gold medals decided in the morning were

Girls

Event	Age Group	Name	Time	Club
200 metre freestyle	11-12	Kokolo Foster	2:26.22	Tornadoes

200 metre breaststroke

11-12

Kokolo Foster

2:58.05

Tornadoes

200 metre breaststroke

13-14

Raine Hopkins

2:58.12

Swimaz

200 metre breaststroke

15 and over

Regan Griffiths

3:56.86

Wahoo

400 metre IM

13-14

Raine Hopkins

5:54.93

Swimaz

400 metre IM

15 and over

Karci Gibson

5:46.58

Y Speedos

400 freestyle relay	11-12	Emma Marston
	11-12	Giani Francis
	11-12	Chrstanya Shirley
	11-12	Aija -Marie Adams	4:45.40	Y Speedos

400 freestyle relay	15 and over	Amanda Clarke
		Alexa Critchlow
		Annelies Denny
		Amore Hunter	4:58.50	Tornadoes

Boys

Event	Age Group	Name	Time	Club
200 metre freestyle	11-12	Nelson Denny	2:20.58	Tornadoes

200 metre breaststroke

11-12

David Morris

3:24.63

Y Speedos

400 metre IM

11-12

Charles McIntosh

7:05.70

Aqua Marine

400 metre IM

13-14

Joshua Mignott

5:52.55

Tornadoes

400 metre IM

15 and over

Matthew Sinclair

6:13.45

Y Speedos

400  freestyle relay	11-12	Israel Allen		Tornadoes
		Joshua Bramwell
		Noah Azan
		Nelson Denny	4:42.94

KOKOLO FOSTER’S NATIONAL BREASTSTROKE RECORD HIGHLIGHTS DAY TWO ACTION AT AGE GROUP CHAMPS

Kokolo Foster

The second night of action at the 2019 Walter Rogers Age Group Championships got underway on the perfect note in the very first event contested , the girls 11-12 100 metre breaststroke. This as Kokolo Foster of the Tornadoes Swim club stormed to victory in the event with an advantage of almost ten seconds to set a new 11-12 age group record of 1:18.51 (split time .

Danielle Boothe Photo courtesy of Liberty University Swimming and diving

That performance lowered the 2009 Championship record held by Danielle Boothe of 1:20.31. Boothe would go on to have a very successful CARIFTA championships that year in Aruba winning Three Gold , Four Silver and a Bronze. In Aruba Boothe would set the former national record of 1:19.89 en route to the Gold medal.In that 11-12 breaststroke final included The Bahamas Laura Morley of Indiana and Aruba Daniela Van Den Berg of Florida State University are currently competing in the Big Ten and Atlantic Coast (ACC) Conferences NCAA Division I .In Boothe’s lasting outing for Jamaica she was part of the record setting 400 metre medley relay team that competed at the 2015 PAN American Games

2015 PAN AM Games 400 metre medley relay from left to right Trudiann Patrick, Alia Atkinson, Breanna Roman and Danielle Boothe

Sabrina Lyn stroking to the wall en route to a new personal best in the 100 metre breaststroke Photo courtesy of Michael C Lyn

The Gold in girls 13-14 age group went to Foster’s teammate Sabrina Lyn who lowered her championship record of 1:18.42 that she set in the heats to 1:17.51 to take Gold.

Octivia Gray of UWI Photo courtesy of Lynval Lowe

The 15 and over Gold medal was won by another swimmer who competed at CARIFTA 2009, Octivia Gray of the Marlins Swim Club .She turned back the hands of time to take the win in 1:25.76. In 2009 she had won the Bronze medal in this event in a time of 1:21.61

The fastest time of the night came from Chester Adams of the Y Speedos who won in a personal best time of 1:10.90 to take the 15 and over crown.

Other Gold medallists on the night were

Girls

Event	Age	Name	Time	Club
50 metre backstroke	8 & under	Zuri Coke	44.98	Tornadoes

Boys

Event Age Name Time Club
100 metre breaststroke 11-12 Dirk Harrison 1:26.61 Y Speedos
100 metre breaststroke 13-14 Joshua Mair 1:18.85 Tornadoes
50 metre backstroke 8 & under Adlai Nixon 46.91 Swimaz

LAURA MORLEY SETS NEW PERSONAL BEST IN 200 YARD IM TO BECOME THE FASTEST BAHAMIAN WOMAN EVER AT 2019 BIG TEN CHAMPS

On Thursday Feb 21 Indiana’s senior Bahamian Laura Morley shattered her personal best in the 200 yard individual medley and in the process became the fastest Bahamian woman ever in the event.

Laura Morley Photo courtesy of Mike Dickbernd

Before the Conference championships got underway at her home pool at the Counsilman Billingsley Aquatic Center in Bloomington, Indiana Morley boasted a best time of 2:00.06 at the Indiana Invitational in November. She threatened that time in the morning heats with clocking of 2:00.15. That performance earned her a second swim in the event in the C final. That was the first time that she made a final at the Conference Championships. In 2018 she placed 46th in a time of 2:02.64 and 2017 76th in 2:06.83.In that C final she trailed at the halfway mark in seventh place She would however uncork a monster breaststroke split of 32.93 to gain the lead heading into the freestyle leg. She would not relinquish that advantage and touched in HUGE PB of 1:57.44,holding off teammate Shelby Koontz 1:57.94 for the victory.

McKayla Lightbourn Photo courtesy of seminoles.com

That swim puts her as the fastest Bahamian woman of all time in the event bettering the previous best of 1:58.11 by countrywoman McKayla Lightbourn. Lightbourn had recorded that time for Florida State University in the heats of the 2014 ACC championships.She would later place seventh in the Championship final with a time of 1:59.46.

Alia Atkinson

Morley is just off the all time CARIFTA region record of 1:57.31 held by CARIFTA region legend Jamaica’s Alia Atkinson. Alia had set the standard during the heats of the 2009 NCAA championships. Alia ,competing for Texas A&M would place seventh in the B final in a time of 1:58.84.

Laura Morley .Photo courtesy of iuhoosiers.com

Morley has also bettered the NCAA B standard of 1:59.94 and is the seventh fastest Hoosier in school history.

LAST ONE FAST ONE MIKEL SCHREUDERS WINS SEC 200 FREESTYLE TITLE, RESETS CHAMPIONSHIP RECORD

Outgoing Missouri senior Aruba’s Mikel Schreuders is leaving the SEC Championships with his name in the record books and his first title in the 200 yard freestyle.

Mikel Schreuders the best 200 yard freestyler the SEC Championships has ever seen.Photo courtesy of Madeline McKernan

Last night in Georgia he reaffirmed his position as the best 200 yard freestyler that the Championships has ever seen when he won Gold in a new PB, school and SEC record time of 1:31.27 . That bettered his lead leg relay split of 1:31.61 on the opening day of the SEC Championships at the University of Georgia.Silver was won by Joey Reilman of Tennessee in 1:32.35 and the Bronze went to Khader Baqlah of Florida in 1:32.71. He is now the second fastest swimmer in the event across all divisions this year. Through determination and the goal to set higher standards for himself each year at these Championships Schreuders had swum faster all of the four years he has competed.

THE PATH TO GOLD

200 yard freestyle	Gold	Bronze	Fourth	Fifth
Splits	2019	2018	2017	2016
First  50	21.20	22.17	22.12	22.92
Second 50	23.03	23.93	23.92	23.99
Third 50	23.27	23.54	24.03	23.56
Fourth 50	23.77	23.60	24.00	23.88
Final time	1:31.27	1:33.24	1:34.06	1:34.35

Schreuders now adds Aruba to the CARIFTA region nations that have won individual titles in the men’s 200 yard freestyle

Shaune Fraser Photo courtesy of shaunefraser.com

2004	George Bovell	Auburn	1:34.54	Trinidad and Tobago
2007	Shaune Fraser	Florida	1:35.05	Cayman Islands
2008	Shaune Fraser	Florida	1:34.23	Cayman Islands
2009	Shaune Fraser	Florida	1:33.73	Cayman Islands

Draftingthecaribbean spoke to the SEC Champion after his race and he shared his thoughts on the race

“The race was amazing .Before the race I was not trying to focus on any specific time.I was just trying to go out there and have fun and do the best I can. I felt good the entire way.Afterward of course it hurt a little bit but that always happens.It feels good not only to represent my school and my name but also Aruba and all the kids from the Caribbean”,

Mikel Scrhreuders.Photo courtesy of mutigers

BRITNEY WILLIAMS EXTENDS WINNING STREAK IN THE 800 FREESTYLE TO FIVE YEARS ON OPENING DAY OF 2019 AGE GROUP CHAMPS

Britney Williams Photo courtesy of Lynval Lowe

The opening day of the Walter Rodgers Age Group Championships got underway yesterday and saw Jamaica’s fastest ever locally trained female distance freestyler Britney Williams of the Swimaz Aquatics Club lowering the 15 and over 800 metre freestyle championship record.

Breanna Roman

Williams set a new mark of 9:52.46 lowering the 2012 standard of 9:53.97 by another Swimaz Aquatic athlete Breanna Roman . The win makes it five years that Britney has been unbeaten at the biggest championships of the year. She won the race by over 40 seconds to her nearest rival. Britney gave her thoughts about her record breaking performance

” I am really happy for the win and the record, The swim was amazing. This just sets the pace for the rest of the meet to be an amazing and successful one”.

WILLIAMS AGE GROUP CHAMPS WINNING STREAK

Year	Time	Age group
2019	9:52.46	15-17
2018	10:04.37	15-18
2017	10:09.85	15-19
2016	10:26.36	13-14
2015	10:36.30	13-14

Chester Adams of the Y Speedos was the top swimmer in 1500 metre freestyle .He topped the field in a time of 18:36.21.

Other Gold medallists on the opening night included

Girls

Age Group Name Event Time Club
13-14 Zaneta Alvaranga 800 metre freestyle 10:42.76 Kaizen
11-12 Leanna Wainwright 800 metre freestyle 11:12.40 Sailfish Swim Academy
15-17 Brianna Anderson 200 metre backstroke 2:42.15 Y Speedos
13-14 Safiya Officer 200 metre backstroke 2:46.68 Swimaz Aquatic Club
11-12 Leanna Wainwright 200 metre backstroke 2:43.46 Sailfish Swim Academy

Boys

Age Group Name Event Time Club
13-14 Zachary Randle 1500 metre freestyle 19:05.27 Y Speedos
11-12 Israel Allen 1500 metre freestyle 20:18.12 Tornadoes
15-17 Kyle Sinclair 200 metre backstroke 2:21.58 Y Speedos
13-14 Nathaniel Thomas 200 metre backstroke 2:26.58 Tornadoes
11-12 Nelson Denny 200 metre backstroke 2:43.62 Tornadoes

NATHANIEL THOMAS LOOKS TO STRONG CARIFTA PERFORMANCE IN BARBADOS

One of the top swimmers who will be in action at the Walter Rogers National Age Group Championships at the National Aquatic Centre in Kingston Jamaica which starts today Thursday Feb 21 is Nathaniel Thomas of the Tornadoes Swim Club.Nathaniel’s best races are the sprint butterfly, backstroke and freestyle events.He set a number of national records in his last year of the 11-12 age group and will be looking to do the same in his last year of the 13-14 age group.

Nathaniel’s 11-12 national records

Nathaniel Thomas with Gold medal won at CARIFTA 2017 in The Bahamas Photo courtesy of Michael C Lyn

50 metre freestyle	26.10
50 metre backstroke	29.99
50 metre butterfly	27.86
100 metre butterfly	1:02.71

This season in those sprint events he has been beaten only once in the 13-14 category.If the form book holds true he will be one of the nation’s leading lights to medal in what promises to be a very competitive 13-14 age group in Barbados. Jamaica’s medal count in those events has been low , two Bronze medals since 2011. It was 2011 that Jamaica did very well mainly through the efforts of Olympian Timothy Wynter.

Timothy Wynter on his return to Jamaica from a successful 2011 CCCAN campaign Photo courtesy of The Jamaica Gleaner

Events	Time and medal	Name
50 metre butterfly	26.43 Silver	Timothy Wynter
100 metre butterfly	59.27 Silver	Timothy Wynter
50  metre freestyle	l25.21 Silver	Sidrell Williams
100 metre freestyle	55.31 Bronze	Timothy Wynter
50 metre  backstroke	Gold 27.76 tie	Timothy Wynter
100 metre backstroke	1:01.08 Silver	Timothy Wynter

When draftingthecaribbean spoke to Thomas he gave his expectations for the Championships this week, CARIFTA and expected competition in Barbados

“The Walter Rogers meet this weekend I am going in with a positive attitude.I hope to do my best in all my races .For this meet I am not going in completely rested as I am trying to get where I need to be for CARIFTA.This meet is the biggest local meet for Jamaica and I know that a lot of swimmers are trying to get their times to qualify for CARIFTA but I already have my (qualification) times so my sights are set for CARIFTA itself.As for my competition overseas for the different countries.I am not too focused on their times.I just know that I am going out there to do my best, get good times , have good races and I hope to win”

Thomas receiving the high point trophy for the 13-14 age group for Campion College from Mrs Dawn Adams

Thomas enters the national championships coming from the national high school championships where he won five medal , four of which were Gold in record time. Even unrested Thomas should be able to get most if not all of those sprint records.

Events	PB	Meet record
50 metre butterfly	26.71	27.33
100 metre butterfly	59.98	1:00.94
50  metre freestyle	25.00	25.35
100 metre freestyle	55.71	56.25
50 metre  backstroke	28.76	28.85
100 metre backstroke	1:06.41	1:04.10

From left to right Nathaniel Thomas of Tornades winner of the 11-12 Boys 100 metre freestyle presenter of medal Mr Ramon James who set the record in the event when he swam for Tornadoes in 1995 Karl Dalhouse 2017

The pool events at CARIFTA 2019 will be held from April 20 to 23.Both Wlater Rogers and CARIFTA will serve as qualification meets for the 18th FINA World Championships 2019 – Gwangju, Korea the Pan American Games 2019 – Lima, Peru and the XXXII Olympic Games 2020 – Tokyo, Japan .

SCHREUDERS AND HIGGS EARN CAREER BEST PLACINGS AT SEC’S ON DAY TWO, MIKEL WINS FREESTYLE BRONZE

The second day of the SEC championships being held in Georgia. Mikel Schreuders and Albury Higgs both set new personal bests and recorded their highest ever placings in the 50 yard freestyle and 200 yard individual medley respectively.

Albury Higgs Photo courtesy of swimswam.com

Higgs of the Bahamas competing for the South Carolina Gamecocks earned her first ever spot in an SEC final in the 200 yard IM when she lowered her personal best from 2:00.37 to 1:58.30, an NCAA B qualifying time. In 2018 she had placed 38th overall. She would have more in store in the C final as she lowered that time further to place 6th overall in 1:58.24. This is a big improvement from November 2018 when she recorded her previous best heading into the SEC’s as seen by the splits below

Albury Higgs

butterfly	26.49	26.02
backstroke	29.83	29.68
breaststroke	34.57	33.53
freestyle	29.48	29.01
Total time	2:00.37	1:58.24

With her SEC performance Higgs now moves from joint fourth to the third fastest performer in South Carolina history.

Mikel Schreuders Photo courtesy of mutigers.com

Aruban Mikel Schreuders of Missouri earned his best ever placing in the 50 yard freestyle when he won Bronze in the event in a new personal best time of 19.24. Coming to Georgia Mikel had a personal best time of 19.45. He lowered that in the morning heats to 19.31. Schreuders has swum faster each year he has contested this event.

2019	19.24	Bronze
2018	19.69	1st C final
2017	20.17	28th
2016	20.71	39th

With that swim he now moves from fourth to second fastest all time in Missouri Tigers history. He moves to being the third fastest ever performer from the CARIFTA region . The list is headed by the legendary George Bovell III Trinidad and Tobago who is the region’s fastest ever swimmer in yards, short course metres and long course metres

Goerge Bovell III Photo courtesy of sportsmax.tv

2009	George Bovell III	18.98
2017	Dylan Carter	19.04
2019	Mikel Schreuders	19.24
2018	Justin Plaschka	19.30
2009	Shanune Fraser	19.30

Justin Plaschka Photo courtesy of und.com

In 2017 at the NCAA Championships during the heats Schreuders had anchored the 200 yard freestyle relay to a time of 1:16.78 , a new school record,with a split of 19.61.That enabled the Tigers to make the final . He never swum in the final and the team placed seventh with the exact same time. In Georgia he blew past the 19 seconds barrier to split 18.77 on the second leg. Mikel, along with Luke Mankus 19.48,Danny Kovac 19.14 and Kyle Leach 19.29 combined to swim to a new school record of 1:16.68 and place fourth.

Mikel Schreuders in action Photo courtesy of mutigers.com/Mike Krebs

COACH GILLIAN MILLWOOD EXPECTS BRIANNA ANDERSON TO DOMINATE BACKSTROKE SPRINT EVENTS AT WALTER ROGERS IN CARIFTA QUALIFICATION BID

The Walter Rogers National Age Group Championships will dive into action tomorrow Thursday Feb 21 and will run to Feb 24 .the meet will feature many of the nation’s top swimmers vying for a spot on the CARIFTA team that will compete in Barbados from April 19 to 23. One of those athletes is Brianna Anderson of the Y Speedos Swim club. Anderson won t Bronze medal in the 50 metre backstroke in a time of 31.01 in front of her hometown crowd.

This year, in the backstroke events she has had no equal. What will give her added confidence heading into this national Championship is the fact that she is the fastest swimmer in the 50 metre backstroke that Jamaica has ever produced in the 15-17 age group.She earned thataccolade by lowering the 15-17 record of 30.55 by former teammate Angara Sinclair to 30.44 in December in a time trial. Sinclair had set the old record at the 2017 CCCAN championships held in Trinidad and Tobago.

Brianna Anderson 15-17 50 metre backstroke record holder

Coach at the Y Speedos Swim club Gillian Millwood gave her thoughts on her swimmer’s chances in the backstroke events

Coach Gillian Millwood

“With the backstroke especially the 50 Brianna will have no challenge but the clock and so far she has done really well.Very few swimmers can pull themselves together and race the clock and every swim meet that is what she does.the biggest challenge in the backstroke event will be in the 200 metre event if f Britney Williams swims it.Williams is a more formidable rival as the race gets longer. The 50 and 100 events are hers to dominate time wise.So she will be looking to see what the other girls in the 15-17 age group in the other territories will do in their meets.Her speed is up in the 50.Over the last two months the emphasis has been on just paying attention to her turnover rate and her breakout.The last few training sessions we have been using the backstroke ledge .Brianna has been one of the proficient users of the ledge to the point where she has been teaching her teammates how to use the ledge.I anticipate great things from her in terms of lowering her national record”. The senior national record belongs to regional icon Alia Atkinson at 29.94 set in 2012.

15-17 CARIFTA Champion in the 50 metre backstroke Photo courtesy of Mike C Lyn

If the sprint backstroke races goes according to the form book at CARIFTA she will be expected to race against defending champion Danielle Titus from Barbados and expect a strong challenge from Logan Watson-Brown from Bermuda and the expected stiff competition from Martinique,Guadeloupe and The Bahamas.

Krisitin Julien Photo courtesy of usportt.com

With Titus recording a senior national record in the heats of the event in Jamaica and Anderson already at 30.44 there is a greater possibility that the 2014 CARIFTA record of 29.48 set by Kristen Julien ,which also doubles as the national record for the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago may fall.

Both Walter Rogers and CARIFTA serves as qualifying meets for The 18th FINA World Championships 2019 – Gwangju, Korea The Pan American Games 2019 – Lima, Peru and The XXXII Olympiad 2020 – Tokyo, Japan