On the third day of the Christmas Open Nathan Wright gave to Western Jamaica and himself a new national mark. Competing in the 9-10 50 metre freestyle on Saturday Dec 21 stroked his way to a new all-time Jamaica best of 29.18.He downed the old national mark of 29.27 set by Brady McPherson -Lewison at this meet in 2018. The youngster who represents the Sailfish Swim club also shattered the meet record of 32.04 by his teammate Benjamin Davis.Nathan is the only swimmer from the Western end of Jamaica to hold an individual national age group record.
Team Nathan
from left to right
Paul Campbell founder of Sailfish Swim Academy, Nathan Wright new national record holder and Head Coach Adolfo Morales
THE ROAD TO THE NATIONAL RECORD
The 9-10 boys record stood for 28 years before falling in 2018.The mark was held by Tshaka Douglas who swam for the Y Speedos and dominated the 9-10 age group .
Nathan would also crush the 200 individual medley of 3:10.65 in a close battle with Zach Andre Johnson of the Y Speedos 2:55.42 to 2:55.47.
Joseph Black
Photo courtesy of athletics.kenyon.edu
There would be a national record scare in the 50 metre breaststroke during the morning heats. This as Joseph Black of the Tornadoes swim club came close to taking down the nearly decade old senior national record of 29.38 set by Brad Hamilton.
Brad Hamilton
Photo courtesy of goheels.com
Hamilton, who also represented Tornadoes set the mark at the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games . Black, who is a sophomore at Kenyon College blitzed the field to set a mark of 29.62. He is the first Jamaican to break the 30 seconds mark in the event for the seven years. Black who scratched the final is also leading the North Atlantic Conference for the Lords with his 50 yard breaststroke time of 25.58. That time also has Black as the third fastest swimmer in the event for Division III.
Christmas open 800 metre freestyle record holders the ladies from Swimmaz
from left to right Raine Hopkins, Safiya Officer, Britney Williams and Brooke Hopkins
Another notable highlight was the record set by the Swimaz Aquatic club quartet of twins Raine and Brooke Hopkins,Safiya Officer and Britney Williams. They took almost 30 seconds off the old meet record to set a new standard of 9:21.13.
Zarek Wilson Blue Dolphins Christmas open 200 metre butterfly record holder .Photo courtesy of Harold Wilson
Zarek Wilson of the Blue Dolphins of Trinidad and Tobago set the meet record in the 200 metre butterfly in the heats with a time 2:17.26 before securing the Gold in the final with a time of 2:21.65. Wilson has never lost the race in Jamaica and has swum faster on each occasion he has visited the island.His record in Jamaica now stands at five from five. Wilson set the fastest 11-12 mark in the race ever done in Jamaica in 2018.
The first two days of the 2019 Christmas Open which started on Dec 19 at the National Stadium Pool in Kingston Jamaica saw national age group records broken by both Jamaican and Cayman Islands swimmers.
Jillian Crooks of the Camana Bay Aquatic Club was the leader in the record charge with records in two events. Crooks, who is of Jamaican parentage is in the 11-12 age group regionally but swim as her exact age of 13 for Cayman record purposes.
Jillian Crooks of Camana Bay
dominating the competition in the 100 metre butterfly.
Photo courtesy of Harold Wilson
She is competing in the senior girls category. She lowered the 13-14 100 metre butterfly record of Olympian Heather Roffey. The old mark set in 2001 of 1:05.62 was lowered to 1:05.25 as Jillian won the open event by more than five seconds.
Jillian en route to a new national record in the 50 metre butterfly
Photo courtesy of Harold Wilson
Swimming in the open age group continued to pay dividends as she lowered her record 50 metre butterfly of 30.08 to 29.75 in the heats . In the final it would be yet another Silver as she touched in 29.72. Gold wen to P’aige Lewis of the Y Speedos in 29.69.The old record of 31.36 belonged to Sarah Jackson set at the Summer Summer Senior Beach Splash in 2015
Nathaniel Thomas
Nathaniel Thomas of Tornadoes lowered his 13-14 national record in the 100 metre butterfly . He lowered the 58.45 he set at the World Junior Championships in Europe to 58.36. In the open 50 metre butterfly he took down the 2011 age group record of 26.22 set by Olympian Timothy Wynter. He lowered the time to 26.16 in the morning heats. He would win the final in a time of 26.41.
Draftingthecaribbean spoke to Thomas , the 2019 CARIFTA 100 metre butterfly champions and got his thoughts about his record swims
“For the first day of the meet I was happy with my performance in the 100 metre butterfly as I broke the national record which I had previously set at the FINA World Juniors this year.Even though I wanted to go 57 I was still happy with my time”
Nelson Denny at the 2019 CCCAN Championships
Tornadoes Teammate Nelson Denny lowered Thomas’s 11-12 50 metre backstroke record from 29.99 to 29.64. Denny’s time would have won the Gold in the 11-12 backstroke at this year’s CARIFTA and CCCAN Championships. His time puts the national record as the second fastest amongst English speaking CARIFTA nations in that age group.
Zarek Wilson
Photo courtesy of Harold Wilson
Only Zarek Wilson of Trinidad and Tobago who is competing at this meet is the faster with his 29.22 in 2018. Wilson, who competes for Blue Dolphins set a new personal best and meet record on the opening day of the meet with a time of 17:36.57 in the open 1500 metre freestyle.
The CARIFTA region’s freshmen continue to rise to the rigour of the NCAA system by lowering their county’s national standards. Barbadian Jack Kirby of the University of Southern California Trojans proved himself ready for the challenge at his first major college championships by taking down his own senior national record in the 100 metre backstroke.
Jack Kirby
The date was November 22, the location College Station Texas and the meet was the 2019 Art Adamson Invitational hosted by Texas A&M. The meet’s format had preliminaries in long course metres and the finals in yards. The Baylor School graduate took the opportunity to lower his personal and national mark. What would be seen throughout the competition was the Business Administration Major’s increased speed endurance. Jack went out in 27.31 and came back in 28.11 to cut the record down to 55.42. He did not lose much in his back end speed with his more aggressive first 50 as seen by the comparison of his national record splits.That earned him a spot in the Championship final. Though the time is under the Olympic B standard of 55.47, the meet is not a sanctioned Olympic qualifying event.
Start of the 2018 15-17 50 metre backstroke final from left to right DaVante Carey Silver medallist and Jack Kirby of Barbados Gold medallist who recently set senior national 100 metre backstroke record Photo courtesy of Mike C Lyn
100 metre backstroke
New NR
Old NR
First 50
27.31
27.77
Second 50
28.11
28.03
Total time
55.42
55.80
The same increased endurance was seen in the 100 yard backstroke when he won the Bronze in a new personal best and NCAA Division I B time of 47.46.The time ranks him ninth in the PAC-12 conference.
100 yard backstroke
New PB
New PB
First 50
22.51
23.13
Second 50
24.95
24.75
Total time
47.46
47.88
Jack Kirby being honoured as the 2018 Junior Sportman of the year Photo courtesy of the Barbados Olympic Association
NATIONAL 100 METRE BACKSTROKE RECORDS HELD BY KIRBY
Age Group
Time
Year
Senior national
55.42
2019
18 and over
55.42
2019
15-17
56.19
2018
11-12
1:06.54
2013
9-10
1:14.89
2011
In the 100 metre backstroke Kirby closes in George Bovell III’s spot of number three of all time from the CARIFTA region.
Dylan Carter
Photo courtesy off ttoc.org
Name
First 50
Second 50
100
Year
Dylan Carter TTO
26.41
27.68
54.09
2019
Rex Tullius USVI
26.61
28.46
55.07
2016
George Bovell III TTO
26.18
29.04
55.22
2012
Jack Kirby Bar
27.13
28.11
55.42
2019
Patrick Groters ARU
26.41
29.41
55.82
2019
Bradley Ally Bar
27.38
28.50
55.88
2011
Timothy Wynter Jam
26.93
29.22
56.15
2016
Shaune Fraser Cay
28.06
28.93
56.99
2011
In the 200 backstroke he posted a time of 2:08.36 in the Olympic sized pool to make it to the B final. When he swam in the yards he put clear water between himself and the field and crushed his old personal best with a swim of 1:43.66.The time puts him seventh in the PAC-12 conference.
200 yard backstroke
New PB
Old PB
First 100
50.96
52.08
Second 100
52.70
53.27
Total time
1:43.66
1:45.35
The swim was yet another NCAA B qualifying time and would have won the Bronze in the Championship final.
In the 200 yard medley relay Kirby recorded his first sub 22 seconds clocking 21.92. That propelled the Trojans A team to 1:26.55 that placed them fourth at the meet and fifth in PAC-12. Jack’s old PB was set at the Southeastern Swimming Short Course Championships when he won Gold in the 50 yard backstroke in 22.41
In the longer 400 yard medley he had given an indication that a new personal record was on the cards when he opened with a time of 48.02.His teammates Sean Ward breaststroke 54.43,Alexi Sancov butterfly 45.79 and Nikola Miljenic freestyle 43.13 pushed for a total time of 3:11.37 for third .
The meet had opened with Kirby rattling his personal best in the 50 metre freestyle of 23.46 from the 2018 Central American and Games with a time of 23.51 .In the 50 yard freestyle he would not fall short as he bettered his time of 20.80 to 20.51 to place eighth in the B final.
In the 200 yard yard freestyle relay he would produce a sub 20 seconds second leg of 19.93 on the Trojans B team. They would finish sixth in a time of 1:20.13. The Trojan men placed second at the competition which ran from Nov 21 to 23 with 675 points. The Texas A&M Aggies topped the competition with 1322 points
Draftingthecaribbean spoke to Kirby about his latest national record effort
Jack Kirby UANA 2018
” I went into the race pretty nervous but excited and confident because I knew I could go a best time. I just was scared to prove myself wrong. The strategy for the race was the exact same as the last time I swam 55.8 at home. First 50 relaxed while building into the wall, and the last 50 100% but this time I knew I had more speed”.
He also spoke about the other races at the invite
” The invite went really well for me. The first day was a little rough but I pulled things together for the next two days. I had about an 80% meet improvement and I can’t complain about that “.
Victorious Team Bahamas
from left to right President Algernon Cargill,captains Cabral, Izaak Bastian, Anya MacPhail and Luke -Kennedy Thompson
Photo courtesy of Rochelle Bastian
Over the summer Bahamian Katelyn Cabral , who was a co captain of the 2019 CARIFTA team, made the move to the United States to train and attend school in Florida. She now competes for Florida Atlantic University High School. They compete in the 1A category . Cabral adapted well to the new environment by qualifying for the State Championships. The meet which was held on November 9 at the Sailfish Splash Water Park in Stuart Florida saw Cabral competing in the 100 yard butterfly and 50 yard freestyle.
Cabral at the State Championships in November
In the 100 yard butterfly she opened with a split of 27.69 and finishing with a 31.09 to finish in 58.78 .That earned her a lane in the B final. In the evening’s race she came from third at the halfway mark with a time of 27.13 to top the field and take the win in 57.93 .She was the only sub 58 seconds swimmers in the field as second to the wall was Marliese Rittenhouse of the Bolles school in 58.10. Cabral was not far off her personal best of 57.65 set at the Regional 4 qualifying meet just a week earlier. In the 50 yard freestyle she placed 17th in 25.10. The this year’s team to the State Championships was comprised of five swimmer four boys and one girl, Katelyn.
Katelyn is the highest placed swimmer ever for boys or girls at the prestigious State Championships for the Boca Raton based institution. She is only the second girl to make the State Championships. The season also ended with Cabral dominating the record books for her school with seven new marks five individual and two relays.
Event
Time
200 yard freestyle
2:02.56
100 yard freestyle
55.32
50 yard freestyle
24.54
100 yard butterfly
57.65
200 yard individual medley
2:21.62
200 medley relay
Victoria Lucas
32.58
Giulia Klapper
34.36
Katelyn Cabral
25.94
Kaitly Han
26.25
Total Time
1:59.13
400 yard freestyle relay
Kaitly Han
57.88
Victoria Lucas
1:00.84
Laura Martinez
1:00.38
Katelyn Cabral
52.65
Total Time
3:51.75
Cabral celebrating The Bahamas victory at CARIFTA 2019 with co captains from left to right Bastian, McPhail and Thompson.Photo courtesy of Rochelle Bastian
The year 2019 for Katelyn Cabral has been one of progress .She was named co-captain of the winning CARIFTA team. She made the final of the 100 metre butterfly in Barbados with a personal best of 1:07.28.
15 and over 100 metre butterfly at the 2019 Bahamian National Championships
from left to right
Jasmine Gibson,Cabral and Kyla Bethel. Photo courtesy of Rochelle Bastian
She would lower that time to 1:05.80 to be win the Gold in the 15 and over category at the Bahamas Nationals. Earlier this year in May Katelyn also gave a TedX Youth talk about “Learning to embrace my differences”. See link to video below
Draftingthecaribbean spoke to the dynamic youngster from Grand Bahama about competing in the United States
“It was a lot of fun to participate at the Florida State High School Swimming Championships. This was my first big meet since moving to Florida a few months ago and I had an awesome experience. I’m still getting used to swimming short course yards rather than long course meters, and the weather at the outdoor pool on competition day was fierce, but the event was a lot of fun and I’m looking forward to more meets in Florida very soon”.
DaVante Carey .Photo courtesy of McKendree University
Yet another of the CARIFTA region’s swimmers continue to make their mark at the NCAA collegiate level as well as setting new standards for their nations. On November 24 at the Purdue Invitational McKendree University long course time trial freshman DaVante Carey swam his way to history in the 100 metre backstroke. He recorded a time of 58.12 to become the fastest Bahamian of all time in the event. He had been missed the record previously with times of 58.94, 58.64 and 58.91 earlier this calendar year.
Carey competing at the 2019 CCCAN Championships.Photo courtesy of Harold Wilson
This time the defending CARIFTA, CCCAN and national Champion would not let 2019 end without claiming the record. DaVante took down the 2004 record of Olympian Chris Vythoulkas of 58.31. Vythoulkas had won heat one of the event on August 15 at the 2004 Athens Games.
Chris Vythoulkas
Photo courtesy of Bahamas Olympic Commitee
100 metre backstroke
Carey
Vythoulkas
First 50
28.31
28.43
Second 50
29.81
29.88
Total time
58.12
58.31
The next standard in Carey’s sights will be the 2020 Olympic B qualifying time of 55.47.
The performance by the Nassau native came right behind a strong Purdue Invite where he set all new personal bests and lowered the school record in the 50 yard backstroke. In the 200 yard medley relay Carey recorded a backstroke split of 22.42.That propelled the Bearcats to the Bronze and a new school record of 1:28.16. That crushed the old school standard of 1:30.27. With his swift opening leg Carey also lowered his school record of 22.96 set on October 26.
200 medley relay
Name
Time
Name
Time
backstroke
DaVante Carey
22.42
Daniel Bujis
23.10
breaststroke
John Heapy
24.64
Matthew Meals
25.15
butterfly
Gregg Lichinsky
21.35
Luca Simonetti
22.27
freestyle
Xander Skinner
19.75
Gregg Lichinsky
19.75
Total Time
1:28.16
1:30.27
The old record was set at the 2019 Great Lakes Valley Conference Championships when they placed fourth. Carey is the third fastest swimmer in the 50 backstroke in the Conference and the Bearcats are second overall in the Conference .
Great Lakes Valley Conference Championship swimmers from the CARIFTA region from left to right Jeron Thompson (Trinidad and Tobago) Indianapolis , Carey (The Bahamas) McKendree,John Bodden (Cayman Islands) McKendree and Kael Yorke (Trinidad and Tobago) Indianapolis
In the 400 yard medley relay he lowered his personal best of 49.93 to 49.46 to help the Bearcats to 5th place in 3:15.88, the second fastest time in school history.
In the individual 100 back he posted the second fastest time of his career 49.72. That earned him as spot in the C final .In that race he proved himself a class above the rest, stopping the clock in 48.95 (split time 23.57).That time would have earned sixth place in the Championship final. He is not the second fastest performer of all time in school history ,just off the Bujis mark of 48.74.
In the 200 yard freestyle relay his second leg was timed at 20.25 that helped in the total team effort 1:22.69.It helped the B team to third in the B final.
The 400 yard freestyle saw the Queen’s College past student clocking 45.21 on the second leg.That helped them to eighth place in 3:00.51 , currently third in the conference and fourth all time in school history .
In the 200 yard individual medley he dropped from 1:57.98 to set a new personal best of 1:53.58.in the heats.He went onto place 7th in the C final in 1:54.79.
In the 200 yard backstroke he entered the meet with a time of 1:55.83. He took it down to 1;55.50 in the heats and yet again to 1:54.93 in the D final.
Carey competing at the 2019 CCCAN Championships .Photo courtesy of Harold Wilson
He registered a massive drop of 51.94 to 49.72 in the 100 yard butterfly to place 27th overall.
The Bearcats competing against such Division I heavyweights such as Louisville placed 5th amassing 266 points. Lousiville won the men’s title with 615 points.
Carey along with older Dionisio own all the Bahamas 50 metre backstroke records except 8 and under boys. Dionisio owns the 9-10 records and was the former senior national record.
Age Group
Time
Year
9-10
33.45
2008
11-12
29.80
2015
13-14
27.61
2017
15 and over
26.46
2019
DaVante’s senior national record tally now stands at five.All were set in 2019
Senior national record holders in the 400 metre freestyle N’Nhyn Fernander,Gershwin Green,Carey and Jared Fitzgerald
Event
Time
50 metre backstroke
26.46
100 metre backstroke
58.12
400 metre freestyle relay
3:28.22
200 mixed medley relay
1:59.21
200 medley relay
1:46.12
Draftingthecaribbean spoke to DaVante about his national record and his first major collegiate meet
“The Purdue Invite was a meet I was really looking forward to.It was my first major mid season meet in college.It was not just a mid season meet but a meet where McKendree, Division II school was competing against all Division I teams so we knew the meet was going to be fast.I like racing fast swimmers.They help me to push harder and swim faster times.I knew I was going to swim well but I did not know the out come would have been this great with just two days of rest and no shaving and just a suit.In the 200 yard freestyle relay I was on the B team I had a split of 20.25 with a reaction time of 0.67. That was pretty slow because most persons on the relay are o.o something .I felt I could do 19 something if I had a faster reaction. After that I had the 200 yard IM I dropped three seconds and finished with a new personal best time of 1:53.That is the fastest time for the season for McKendree University.In the 400 medley relay I swam 49.46 which was still my fastest time at that point as it was the first night of the meet. We had a solid swim and finished in the top out the entire field.In the 100 butterfly I went 49 another personal best for me.In the 100 backstroke which was phenomenal for me . I did not have great swim in the morning.I was not disappointed with it but I knew I could have done better.I came back in the night for finals I did what I had to do and that made the NCAA B cut.I am now third in the GLVC Conference which is a big accomplishment for me. I was so excited to see that time.Even though I am in Division II my time was the sixth fastest at the meet.In the 200 medley relay we broke the school record by over two seconds.I led off in 22.42 which is very solid time.Swimming the 200 yard backstroke in the morning session on the last day was a bit of a struggle as my legs were pretty tired from all the other races because of all the racing I had done.I did a best time and came back in the night and dropped even more time.I did not get a B cut but I know I can work on some areas to get there.Overall it was really solid swim for a mid season meet.My last race of the short course invite was the 400 yard freestyle relay.I got promoted to the A team so I was excited about that.I split 45.21 .I felt that it was a great swim after three hard days of racing.We had some swimmers who stayed back for the Invite Long course Time trial who are trying to make US Olympic trial cuts I am not eligible for that but I swam because I needed some Long course times.I swam the 100 metre backstroke and I was really excited going into the meet because based on my conversion time from Invite that I knew I should be under the record and my personal best. I just went out there and did what I had to do.I had a different racing strategy this time I did not take it out extremely fast as I normally do. I held back a little. I went out in 28. I just had to shift gears when I hit that 50 metre mark.It was the fastest I have ever come back in the 100 metre backstroke in 29 , which is a big accomplishment for me bringing it back under 30.Also breaking the 15 year old record by Chris Vythoulkas at the 2004 Athens Olympics.So the swim places me as the fastest Bahamian 100 metre backstroke ever. I very happy to have broken the record”.
On Nov 22 Trinidad and Tobago’s dynamic duo of freshman Jeron Thompson and sophomore Kael Yorke representing the University of Indianapolis made the Republic proud with their performances at the House of Champions Invitational in late November.
The duo known for their standout performances at the regional level at numerous CARIFTA, CISC and CCCAN Championships have joined forces to continue to excel at the collegiate level for the Division 2 Indy Greyhounds.
Jeron Thompson
Jeron started the meet off on the right note in the 200 yard freestyle relay. He led off the A team with a 20.44 split to help them to second place and a new school record .It bettered the 1:20.44 set at the as well as being the fastest time in the Great Lakes Valley GLVC conference.
National record 50 scm freestyle Jeron
Age Group
Record
15-17
22.89
Kael anchored the B team with a split of 20.54 to help the B team to 8th overall in 1:22.18.
In the 50 yard freestyle Jeron was just off his relay split to place third in the B final in 20.48 .Teammate Kael was 7th in 20.83. In the heats Yorke had dipped below 21 seconds for the first time to record a new PB of 20.79.
It would be the twin island Republic connection that helped the Indy Greyhounds to Gold in the 400 yard medley relay. Thompson backstroke 49.57,Jan Zuchowicz 52.87,Yorke 48.62 and Víctor Antoñón Rodríguez 43.32 blazed to the victory in 3:14.38 .They won by over a second
Kael Yorke
Things would get even better in the 200 yard medley relay as they broke their own meet record of 1:28.34 and school record of 1:27.65 to win Gold in 1:27.05.That was an NCAA B time and the fastest in the conference. Kael who was a part of that record setting relay team at this year’s NCAA Division II champs was also faster on his butterfly leg. That augurs well for even swifter performances at the 2020 Championships. Jeron’s lead leg performance is the fastest in the Conference and the second fastest in Division II
National record 50 scm backstroke Jeron
Age Group
Record
15-17
25.14
Comparison of Records
Leg
Name
Time
Name
Time
Backstroke
Jeron Thompson
22.12
Rodrigo Codo Berti
22.19
Breaststroke
Jan Zuchowicz
23.67
Jan Zuchowicz
23.95
Butterfly
Kael Yorke
21.28
Kael Yorke
21.53
Freestyle
Ante Lucev
19.98
Víctor Antoñón Rodríguez
19.98
Total Time
Nov 2019
1:27.05
March 2019
1:27.65
Yorke won Bronze in the 100 yard butterfly in 47.83, apersonal best and NCAA B time.It also doubled as the third fastest time in the Conference.
Kael Yorke concentrates before setting a new personal best in the 100 butterfly
National records 100 scm butterfly Kael
Age Group
Record
11-12
1:00.48
13-14
56.82
15-17
54.53
In the 100 yard breaststroke Jeron was fourth in 55.28. He entered the competition with a time of 56.69 and lowered it to 55.64 in the heats.
National records 100 scm breaststroke Jeron
Age Group
Record
11-12
1:10.58
13-14
1:03.52
15-17
1:01.94
Jeron Thompson reacts to winning Silver in the 100 freestyle
There would be another big personal best time for Thompson in the 100 free. He put up a time of 45.66 in October at the House of Champions he acted accordingly and dropped that time to 45.03.In his finals performance he almost dropped it to sub 44 winning the Silver in 44.33.
Yorke recorded the second fastest time of his career in the 200 yard butterfly placing sixth in 1:50.34.
National records 200 scm butterfly Kael
Age Group
Record
11-12
2:16.11
13-14
2:08.74
Jeron got the opportunity to go for the a 43 seconds clocking leading off the 400 yard freestyle relay.He again came close with yet another personal best of 44.20. That helped the Greyhounds to a total team time of 2:56.85 and a new school record. The old school standard stood at 2:57.55. Yet another conference leading time.
The Greyhound men amassed 1418 for the Third.The overall men’s crown went to University of Cincinnati in 1578 and Second to Michigan State University in 1537.
Draftingthecaribbean spoke Thompson about his performances at the meet and continuing to fly the flag for the Republic with longtime teammate Yorke
“This was the best start to my college experience that I could have asked for.Heading into the meet I didn’t have any expectations of myself.I know that it was my first time and I would not be disappointed in myself If I did not perform well. Having Kael here in this college with me has been tremendous.It is not like anything I could have asked for .
Jeron and Kael with the Gold and Silver Performance at CARIFTA .Photo courtesy of Harold Wilson
Honestly having Kael with me through this experience is like I am back home.It has been a rocky road so far and I have only been here for one semester.Having him here you can just talk freely and make references other people would not get at times.It has been amazing training with him back and forth.Sometimes I jump in the butterfly sets with and he would jump in the freestyle sets with me and race.We just push each other because we know we have this rivalry since we were 9 or 10 years old.It was amazing setting records with him.It felt like this is what I was meant to to be doing .Heading into the races themselves , the 200 freestyle relay it was spectacular honestly.Heading into that meet I knew I was leading off every relay.I knew how much my team depended on me to do well because throughout the few months we have been training I can say I have been one of the more consistent ones in terms of practice and training sets, holding times ,etc.So my coach knew I would be the best person to lead off the relay because my consistency would be one of my strong points.Leading off both the 4 x 50 freestyle and 4 x 50 medley relays I knew I was going to do well.In the freestyle relay I knew I had three strong fellows coming after me. There were two seniors and one junior.I was the only freshman and they had more than enough experience to just blaze the trail after I set a good tone in the beginning and that was exactly what they did . And we managed to break the record. For the 4 x 100 medley it did not go perfectly.I was expecting to go a bit faster.But I would not put any pressure on myself as I am not exactly a 100 backstroker but I did what I needed to help the team get the relay record and put my team in a good position to capture the win.As for the 4 x 50 medley I know that I had a lot of experience swimming 50 backstroke and I know that my underwaters are my Holy Grail and saving grace in short course meet so I used it to my advantage and lo and behold I was able to come away with a 22.1 and I think I think a top 3 in Division Two .Coming from a Caribbean perspective I do not have much experience with yards but I know this was a fast time It was not 21.9 but it was still pretty quick and I got a lot of appreciation from my teammates for having such great times over the weekend.Pertaining to the freestyle in the individual 100 I managed to do 44.3 giving me second place in the race itself. For the relay My coach once again said I would be person most likely to repeat my times so he put me to lead off the relay.So said so done I managed to eclipse that time with a 44.20, which is the second fastest in the school history.When you put that in perspective for a freshman who got 3-4 months of training into this meet is quite. If I had done that 44.20 in the race that would have got me my first place and would have been my only individual win for the House of Champions this year.As I have said throughout this year every dog has their day whenever Gods says it is the right time it will come.I will be grateful for everything I accomplished throughout my collegiate career.
Brent Noble .Photo courtesy of athletics.uindy.edu
I owe a great deal to both my sprint coaches Brent Noble and and “Zava” Guilhermme Zavanelli,he is a past student of the school and he has been assistant coach helping out with the team.Both have been working back and forth with me and each and every detail they give me I execute it to perfection.These results have just been a reflection of what they have been doing with me.It also speaks to the intensity of the programme and the intricacy of the work they put in. I am grateful for each and every moment of this collegiate experience and the opportunity.I just would not take it for granted as there a lot of other persons who would want to be in the position I am now”.
A new 13-14 national record in the 50 metre butterfly by Campion College’s Nathaniel Thomas was the highlight of a record filled 2019 edition of the ISSA High Tertiary meet on Friday Nov 29.Immaculate Conception retained their title amassing 631 points while the boys title was won by Wolmer’s 465.5points
Under national record rules your age group is determined by your age at the 1st of January each year while for the ISSA meet the age group is determined by your age as at August 31st . Nathaniel competed in the 15-16 age group but is still eligible for the 13-14 record. The 2016 meet record of 27.22 was held by Jesse Marsh also of Campion College .
Timothy Wynter
Photo courtesy of jamaica-gleaner.com
The 13-14 national record of 26.22 was set by another Campion College past student Olympian Timothy Wynter when he won Bronze at the 2011 CCCAN championships. Thomas became the fastest Jamaican of all time in that age caetgory when he stopped the clock in 26.04. He started the competition with a record in the 15-16 boys 50 metre backstroke winning in 27.76 almost 2 seconds faster than the old record of 29.67. Thomas is the reigning CARIFTA and CCCAN champion in this event.
He took the 200 individual medley in 2:23.13, almost ten seconds ahead of the field. He won the new open event ,the 100 metre butterfly in 58.84, not far off his 13-14 national record of 58.45 set at this summer’s World Junior Championships in Budapest Hungary. His lone defeat was in the 50 metre freestyle where he won the Silver in 24.86. The Gold was won by Kyle Sinclair of Wolmer’s Boys who eclipsed the 2012 record of Sidrell Williams of 24.66 with a 24.60 swim.
Nathaniel Thomas .Photo courtesy of Mike C Lyn
Thomas, the reigning 13-14 50 metre butterfly CARIFTA Silver medallist and CCCAN Bronze medallist gave his thoughts on his performances at the meet
“My performance today was very good.I think I could have done better in my 100 butterfly but in my 50 butterfly I got the national record which was very good.I wanted to drop time at this meet in the 50 butterfly. I think I can drop more time come Christmas open I think I can do 25 but for my other races I was not really focusing on that. My main goal was to drop time in the 50 butterfly and 50 backstroke.I did not do as well in the 50 metre backstroke but it is okay as it was still a good performance”.
Nelson Denny at the 2019 CCCAN Championships in Barbados
Another swimmer in record breaking form was Nelson Denny of Hillel .He swam five races, winning Gold in Four and setting four new meet records. These are new marks he set in the 12 and under division
Event
Time
Old record
50 metre backstroke
31.12
33.19
50 metre freestyle
26.96
27.80
100 metre freestyle
59.46
1:02.34
50 metre butterfly
28.92
30.15
He placed fourth in the open 200 metre freestyle event in a new personal best time of 2:11.05. Only in the 100 metre freestyle did he not swim a new personal record. The freestyle and butterfly records were set by former World Championships representative and Kingston College past student Brad Hamilton.
Zaneta Alvarange Photo courtesy of Mike C Lyn
Immaculate’s Zaneta Alvaranga also took down four meet records in the 13-14 girls age group
Event
Time
Old Record
50 metre freestyle
27.17
27.64
50 metre breaststroke
34.99
36.46
100 metre freestyle
1:01.21
1:02.47
50 metre butterfly
29.32
29.61
Wolmerians Britney Williams 17 and over,Kyle Sinclair and Kaheem Lozer accounted for seven of the meet records to fall on the day
Britney Williams Photo courtesy of Lynval Lowe
Williams
Event
Time
Old record
200 metre freestyle open
2:13.06
2:16.54
50 metre freestyle
28.38
29.44
100 metre freestyle
1:02.19
1:03.75
Kyle Sinclair
Sinclair
Event
Time
Old record
200 metre freestyle
2:02.89
2:04.09
50 metre freestyle
24.66
24.60
100 metre freestyle
55.22
55.66
Lozer
Event
Time
Old Record
50 metre butterfly
27.26
27.98
Paris Clare of St Andrew high school also got her name in the record books when she bettered Stefani Webley’s 31.37 to win a time of 30.96.
The relay records fell to Immaculate in the 13-14 and 17 and over girls 200 medley races. The younger age group had the team of Saifya Officer, Kokolo Foster, Alvaranga and Ireland Hunter erasing the record of2:13.52 to touch in t2:11.52. The senior team of Zadia Davis, Karci Gibson,Sage Sinclair and Chenille Haughton bettered the old mark of 2:21.38 to set a new standard of 2:21.18.
LeannaWainwright
Leading the way for schools from the west was 11-12 CARIFTA Gold medallist in the 100 metre backstroke Leanna Wainwright for the Montego Bay High School. She won Gold in the 13-14 50 backstroke in 33.64.In the open 100 metre backstroke she won Silver in 1:14.33 with Gold going Immaculate’s Brianna Anderson in 1:13.42.
The young ladies of Montego Bay High School
Teammate Mia Cunningham won Bronze in the 11-12 50 metre breaststroke in 41.61. For the boys ,Benjamin Davis of Cornwall College was third in the 100 metre free in the 12 and under division in 1:07.46.
Age Group Champions
Daniel Mair Photo courtesy of Cheser Adams
Age Group
Boys
School
Points
12 and under
Nelson Denny
Hillel
41
13-14
Daniel Mair
Campion
33.50
15-16
Nathaniel Thomas
Campion
43
17 and over
Akeem Alleyne
Campion
33
Christanya Shirley
Age Group
Girls
School
Points
12 and under
Christanya Shirley
Immaculate
34
13-14
Zaneta Alvaranga
Immaculate
36
15-16
Sabrina Lyn
Campion
43
17 and over
Britney Williams
Wolmer’s
34
Overall rankings for Girls
Immaculate High School .Photo courtesy of Brittany Williams
drafting the caribbean 