MIKAILI RAISES THE BAR!CHARLEMAGNE LOWERS SAINT LUCIAN 100 METRE FREESTYLE RECORD TO 59.02!

If one were to look for an example of an athlete pursuing excellence in academic and the pool from the CARIFTA region you would not have to look much further than Saint Lucian Olympian Mikaili Charlemagne.

Mikaili Charlemagne Photo courtesy of medicine.yale.edu

Currently studying at Yael she serves as a fellow for the Networking for Global Non -Communicable Disease Research .As per the Yale website

” Her academic pursuits and research interests are centered around the critical concept of health equity and its integration into the realms of chronic disease prevention, treatment, and outcomes for conditions like diabetes, sickle cell disease”.

Robert Dowd. Photo courtesy of bulldogswimming.org

When she is not pursuing excellence at university Mikaili is pursuing high standards in the aquatic realm. For six days a week she is being conditioned at the Bulldog swim club by Robert Dowd. Coach Dowd is a Yale graduate who attended the Pine Crest School in Florida.

Azura Florida Aquatics Head Coach GianLuca Alberani and national record holder 13-14 100 metre breaststroke
Cameron Brown in 2017
Photo courtesy of Marco Bellardi

There he had teammates such as Panamanian Olympian Ismael Ortiz and future Azura Florida Aquatics head Gianluca Alberani.

Charlemagne came to The Bahamas as the standard bearer in the 100 metre freestyle with a timeof of 59.92 (split 28.63) from the 2022 CCCAN Championships. She got that out of the way quickly from the heats with splits of 28.37 and 30.87 to stop the click in 59.24. With more than half a second taken off her national record the Springfield College graduate would be aiming to lower her national standard by even more in the final. This time her splits were 28.21 and 30.81 . If not for a cramp in the last 10 metres the time would have been faster.

CARIFTA 18 and over 100 metre freestyle medal podium . Photo courtesy of Constance Rene

It was still a great achievement of a national record of 59.02, the second fastest in EC (Eastern Caribbean). The national record was even more special as she celebrated her birthday on that day Monday April 1. Silver went to Bermuda’s Logan Watson Brown . Logan who represents the University of Georgia recorded a PB of 57.14. Gold went to Louisiana State University’s Jamaican freshman Sabrina Lyn in a PB of 56.69.

CARIFTA region Olympian Jamaican Alia Atkinson and Saint Lucian Mikaili Charlemagne. Photo courtesy of Constance Rene

In the 50 metre freestyle Charlemagne did her best time in two years of 26.94. In the final she placed fifth in 26.99. Mikaili is the EC standard bearer in the event with her Pb of 26.75 from the 2022 Commonwealth Games. She is also the only EC lady to have breached the 27 seconds barrier . She has now done that four times . The first time was a 26.99 clocking at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

Look for eve faster times and lower EC standards from Charlemagne as the season progresses.

ANTOINE DESTANG SETS NEW PB AND EASTERN CARIBBEAN 100 YARD BUTTERFLY BEST OF 47.27AT 2023 WINTER JUNIOR NATIONALS-EAST !THREATENS BOLLES 15-16 SCHOOL RECORD HELD BY 2016 OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALLIST JOSEPH SCHOOLING!

Saint Lucian Antoine Destang continues to destroy marks in the 100 butterfly. The Bolles Shark swimmer lowered his PB and EC (Eastern Caribbean ) best in the 100 yard butterfly at the 2023 Winter Junior Nationals that just concluded in Ohio.

Jayhan Odlum-Smith New National 50 metre butterfly record 24.55.Photo courtesy of Azura Florida Aquatics

At the start of the year the fastest EC time in the 100 yard butterfly was owned by countryman Jayhan Odlum-Smith. Last year Jayhan won the race at the 32nd Speedo Winter Championships in Plantation ,Florida. His splits were 22.58 and 26.06 for a time of 48.66 competing for Azura Florida Aquatics. Destang lowered that at this year Florida 1A State champs. In the heats Destang produced splits of 22.60 and 25.40 for 48.00. He would become the first EC swimmer under the 48 seconds barrier in the final. He placed fourth in 47.72. The splits read 22.49 and 25.23.

In Ohio he would threaten his sub regional standard with a heats swim of 48.21. That earned him a place in the B finals. His splits were 22.44 and 25.77. In the final as the youngest competitor he was sixth at the turn in 22.35.Then came the change of gear he was the fastest swimmer by over a half a second on the last 50 yards with the only sub 25 split of 24.92. He would win in a new PB and EC best of 47.27.

What is the impact of the swim?

Destang who is in the 13-14 age group according to CARIFTA is not only the fastest swimmer in the EC for that age category but for the region. No other swimmer this young has been under the 50 seconds barrier.

In both the East and West he was the fastest swimmer who was 15 years of age.

Phelps and Schooling .Photo courtesy of First Coast News

He is closing in on the Bolles school 15-16 record of 47.06 set by Singapore Joseph Schooling. In 2011 Schooling would place second at the then combined Winter Junior nationals .That time was faster than Michael Phelps 15-16 US record by 9 hundredths of a second.

2016 Olympic 100 metre podium. Photo courtesy of Strait Times

Schooling would win the 2016 Olympic Gold medal in the 100 metre butterfly in then Olympic and Asian Record time of 50.39. Phelps would tie with South African Chad Le Clos and Hungarian László Cseh for the Silver in 51.14.

Mehdy Metella. Photo courtesy Mehdy Metella

The CARIFTA region was represented in the final by French Guianese star representing France Mehdy Metella who was sixth in 51.58.

Antoine Destang, Photo courtesy of Antoine Destang

This is a fantastic path that Destang is on and should be encouraged to continue with these high quality performances.

KITO CAMPBELL LOWERS JAMAICA BEST MARKS IN THE 100 54.04 AND 200 2:00.45 YARD BREASTSTROKE EVENTS TO LEAD THE NATIONAL JUNIOR COLLEGE ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION RANKINGS FOR INDIAN RIVER STATE!

Kito Campbell .Photo courtesy of Kito Campbell

Jamaican Kito Campbell continues to show why he is the standard for Jamaica in breaststroke events in another winning display for the Indian River State College. Campbell competing for the legendary Jamaican Olympian Sion Brinn’s team at the Florida Tech Panther Invitational from November 17-19 in Melbourne was unmatched in the 100 and 200 yard breaststroke events.

Sion Brinn Photo courtesy of stuartmagazine.com

Fans got a glimpse of a faster Kito on the opening day in the 400 yard medley relay. He split 54.26 to help the Indian River a team to victory. It was the second fastest breaststroke split of the field. The team won in 3:14.15 .That lowered the 2018 Florida Tech meet record of 3:16.15.

Day two saw him beating his own Jamaican best mark of 55.14 in the 100 yard breaststroke in the heats. He set the Jamaican standard against Florida Atlantic on September 22 with splits of 26.08 and 29.06. On the morning of November 18 his splits were 25.86 and 29.16 for a leading time of 55.02.

The evening’s final saw him split 24.93 in the 200 yard medley relay .Indian River got under the meet record of 1:28.70 with their total time of 1:28.00.They were just beaten by Florida Southern College who set the new mark of 1:27.70 beating their mark from last year.

That display of sprinting would be seen fully in the final of the 100 yard breaststroke .In the final he took it out on the field with a split of 25.24. How fast is that from a Jamaican perspective. Kito’s national standard for the flat 50 yards stands at 25.19.That early effort proved to be the decisive factor as he would take the win with a second 50 of 28.80 for a time of 54.04. William Slowey of Rollins College tried to make a race of it splitting 28.53 to finish second in 54.07.

Kito , the first Jamaican under 55 seconds is now the leader in the event for junior colleges. He leads the nation by over two seconds.

On the final day in Melbourne , Florida Kito turned his sights on the 200 yard breaststroke. His splits were 58.47 and 1:03.41 for a time of 2:01.88. That was rattled his Jamaican best of 2:01.78. Campbell set that mark in 2022 at the Plantation SPEEDO Winter Championships. Representing Azura Florida Aquatics he won with splits of 57.69 and 1:04.09 for a total time of 2:01.78.

In the evening’s final Kito was again chased to the wall but his opening speed was too much . His splits were 56.42 and 1:04.03 for a new PB and Jamaican best of 2:00.45.Nickolas Peristeridis of Florida Southern College was a close second in 2:00.51.

Campbell is the best in the nation in this event by almost two seconds.

Craig Emslie. Photo courtesy of the University of North Carolina swimming and diving

All eyes will be on the clock to see how much faster Kito will be at the National Championships next year from March 6-9.The competition will be held at his home pool in fort Pierce. The Championship breaststroke records are held by Indian River through South African Craig Emslie through his 2016 . For the 50 the record is 24.20. The 100 stands at 52.57 . The record for the 200 is 1:56.01.For that feat Emslie was named National Junior College Student-Athlete of the Year for all sports. All those times should be on the rapidly improving Kito’s radar.

Kito CCCAN 2021. Photo courtesy of Janecia Welds-Wainwright

It was 1993 when Coach Brinn swept the 50 , 100 and 200 yard freestyle events with times of 20.58 CR, 45.90 and 1:39.49. That earned him the 1993 NJCAA Swimmer of the Year, accolade. It would be a great moment in Jamaican aquatics if the 2004 NJCAA Swimming & Diving Hall of Fame  could coach another Jamaican to a stroke sweep.

UANA DAY ONE REPORT EASTERN CARIBBEAN SWIMMING RISING!NATIONAL MARKS FALL TO ODLUM-SMITH, ROBERTS, MITCHELL AND FELIX

The Eastern Caribbean nations continue to show their growing potency in swimming as seen by the national marks and personal bests set on the first day of the UANA Olympic qualifier. The first day of action saw fast swimming in Clermont Florida and new heights being reached by Saint Lucia’s Jayhan Odlum-Smith, Antigua and Barbuda’s Samantha Roberts and Stefano Mitchell and Grenada’s Delron Felix.

Jayhan Odlum-Smith New National 50 metre butterfly record 24.55.

Odlum-Smith in the 50 metre butterfly crushed his old national standard of 24.86 with a big PB of 24.55 . That time placed the 19 year old Azura Florida Aquatics swimmer sixth overall. He was also the highest placed CARIFTA region swimmer in the race. The time gets him ever closer to the World Championships B standard of 24.46. That time standard has a dual role for both the 2021 World Short Course Championships to be held in the United Arab Emirates at the end of the year and the Long course World Championships to be held in May in Fukuoka Japan in May.

Photo courtesy of Azura Florida Aquatics

Teammate from Antigua and Barbuda Stefano Mitchell also had a significant time drop in setting a new national record. He lowered his own national mark of 25.69 set the at the 2019 World Aquatic Championships in Korea to 25.30 to place 15th. Countrywoman and teammate Samantha Roberts took down the record from 29.34 to 29.12 to finish 18th.

Delron Felix Photo courtesy of Grenada Sports

Grenada’s Delron Felix representing the Grenada National team bettered his own record set at the 2019 World Championships from 28.15 to 28.13 . That had Felix in 20th place overall. He gave the national record in the 50 metre butterfly a scare when he posted a personal best time of 26.29. The national mark stands at 26.18 set by Marco Bagnasco in 2018 at the Canadian Swimming championships.

Photo of Azura Florida Aquatics

His countryman and Azura Florida Aquatics swimmer Kerry Ollivierre set a new personal best in the 50 metre butterfly of 26.47. That beat the 26.69 he posted at 2018 CCCAN Championships in Aruba.It gave him 40th overall. There would be another personal best in the 50 metre breaststroke as dropped from the 31.47 he posted at the ISCA International Senior cup to register a time of 31.05 for 24th.

The meet got underway with his teammate and Antigua and Barbuda standout Noah Mascoll-Gomes putting up a time of 8:36.00 in the 800 metre freestyle for 22nd .It was not far off his recent national record of 8:31.00.

His countrywomen Bianca Mitchell and Arianna John representing the Vipers swim club notched personal bests in the 50 metre butterfly recording times of 30.77 and 31.14 for 28th and 32nd respectively.

Jennifer Harding-Marlin of Saint Kitts and Nevis was not far off her personal best in the 50 metre backstroke. She touched the wall in 34.39 and her best stands at 34.08 from the 2019 World Championships.

HAITI’S DAVIDSON VINCENT TAKES DOWN 200 METRE BUTTERFLY RECORD AT ISCA INTERNATIONAL SENIOR CUP

Team Haiti at the Paraguay Olympic qualifier in December 2020. From left to right Raphael Grand’Pierre, Coach Stacey Blitsch ,Davidson Vincent, Dr Evenel Mervilus,President of theHaitian Water Sports Federation and Alexandre Grand’Pierre

As Team Haiti continues to gain greater prominence in world swimming one of their top swimmers that continues to aid in gaining greater spotlight is Davidson Vincent. At the recently concluded ISCA International Senior Cup he continued to raise the bar for his nation by lowering his national record in the 200 metre butterfly You would be forgiven for thinking he is just a sprinter but his performance in the 200 metre event has continued to make promising strides.

Davidson Vincent .Photo courtesy of Azura Florida Aquatics

In the meet’s format which had preliminaries were swum in yards and the finals in long course metres . In the 200 yard butterfly the Azura Florida Aquatics swimmer had a big time drop moving from 1:52.83 which he did November last year to 1:50.70. That earned him a place in the B final. That evening’s swim of 2:09.86 saw him becoming the first swimmer from Haiti under 2:10 in the 200 metre butterfly. Vincent has lowered the record three times since the start of 2021.

ANALYSIS OF RECORD SWIMS

200 metre butterfly	Feb 14,2021	March 7,2021	March 27,2021
First 50	27.88	28.12	27.28
Second 50	32.71	32.07	31.49
Third 50	34.26	33.91	33.52
Fourth 50	37.37	36.24	37.57
Total Time	2:12.19	2:10.34	2:09.86

Coach Gianluca presenting Davidson with the 2021 Grand’Pierre Perseverance Award winner.Photo courtesy of Haiti Swimming Fans

Draftingthcaribbean spoke to Head Coach of Azura Gianluca Alberani about this swim in the 200 metre butterfly

“Davidson’s improvement in his 200 has been amazing and he still has a lot of improvement to make once he will accept it as a race he that he can perform well in. He dropped over 15 seconds in in just over a year and this is building confidence for his 100 metre butterfly as well. We are very pleased with Davison’s development and looking forward to seeing his future successes”.

In the 100 yard butterfly he again set a new personal best moving from 48.98 to 48.69. That earned him yet another B final berth. A fast opening 50 of 25.50 earned him a time of 55.10 and third in the race. He was not far off his national record and personal best of 54.57 set at the Paraguay Olympic qualifier in 2020.

In the fastest butterfly event , the 50 metre race he would be the victor in the C final. After posting a yards time of 22.78 he topped the field by more than half a second to win in 25.25 . Again he was just off his national record of 25.08.The swim brings the 2021 World Short Course Championships and 2022 World Long Course Championships of 24.46 in sharper focus. Those global meets will be held in UAE, United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi from Dec 16-21 and Fukuoka, Japan from May 13 -29 respectively.

Vincent will be back in action to seek more glory for Haiti at the UANA meet in Clermont Florida from April 29 to May 2.

EASTERN CARIBBEAN SWIMMING CONTINUES TO GET BETTER!JAYHAN ODLUM -SMITH LOWERS BUTTERFLY RECORD AGAIN AS REGIONAL SWIMMERS SET NEW PB’S

The quality of swimming from the Eastern Caribbean swimming continues to get better. The final days of the ISCA International Senior Cup gave those swimmers yet another opportunity to show their quality and the progress of the sport.

Jayhan Odlum -Smith.Photo courtesy of Azura Florida aquatics

Leading the way was St Lucia’s Jayhan Odlum-Smith.Competing in the 100 butterfly he was initially an alternate but got the oppportunity to swim in the evening’s C final. With the meet’s format of yards in the morning and long course metres in the afternoon he would swim in the Olympic sized pool later that day. He made great use of the second swim with a winning time of 55.49. His aggressive first 50 metres which saw him take the lead ensured the win as he was able to come home in under 30 seconds. It was also a new national record as he lowered his own mark set in November.

100 metre butterfly	Nov 2020	March 2021
First 50	26.34	25.56
Second 50	29.52	29.93
Total Time	55.86	55.49

The Azura Florida Aquatics continues to get closer to the Olympic B standard time in the event of 53.52. Head Coach Gian Luca Albernai spoke about Jayhan’s record swim

” It has been a great learning meet with a number of high level swimmer and big names he able to keep focused and overcome any nervous emotions because of the size and importance of the meet and he was able to leave everything in the water and enjoy the swim from the beginning to the end and the time reflected that. We are moving in the right direction .He has been improving constantly. This is really giving him and us confidence to continue working hard towards the next meets and for the Olympics”.

In the 100 metre freestyle he also set a new personal standard. At the 2019 CCCAN Championships in Barbados he had placed fourth in a time of 52.82. He bettered that time with a swim of 52.75 in the B final of the event to finish eighth.

Stefano Mitchell. Photo courtesy of Azura Florida Aquatics

His teammate from Antigua and Barbuda Stefano Mitchell also made improvements. Following a best time in the 50 yard freestyle he lowered his best in the 100 metre freestyle. Competing in the C final his personal standard moved from 52.52 to 52.41. He had set his previous record in February at the Southern Zone Championships. He placed second in the race to Olympian Andrea D’Arrigo who took the top spot in 51.96.

Noah Mascoll-Gomes .Photo courtesy of Azura Florida Aquatics

Finishing third in that final was his teammate and countryman Noah Mascoll-Gomes. Noah stopped the clock in 52.54. That is the fastest time he has done since the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju, South Korea. He also returned to that World Championships form in the 200 freestyle. In the morning heats he lowered his yards time from 1:39.36 to 1:38.72. In the B final he swam to fifth place in 1:54.99 (split time 55.92). That time is his fastest since 2019 and the fourth fastest of his career.

OFF TO A GREAT START!KEANAN DOLS BACK TO HIS BEST IN ISCA INTERNATIONAL SENIOR CUP SEASON OPENER

Jamaican Keanan Dols has made his Olympic intentions very clear with his best showing in years at the ISCA International Senior Cup in St Petersburg Florida. The meet which ran from March 23 to 27 had a competition format of heats being swum in yards and finals being held in the 50 metre pool.

Keanan swam all personal bests in yards for the morning preliminaries

Event	New PB	Old  PB
200 yard IM	1:46.77	1:48.69
200 yard backstroke	1:44.45	1:45.25
200 yard butterfly	1:45.77	1:48.49
100 yard butterfly	47.95	49.45
200 yard freestyle	1:38.38	1:40.75
50 yard freestyle	21.16	21.21

Keanan Dols at the 2016 Caribbean Islands Swimming championships Photo courtesy of Michael C Lyn

After the 200 IM record scare. Dols came close to taking down his senior national 200 metre backstroke record .Keanan had set the mark when he won Gold and Championship record in the 15-17 age group at the now defunct Caribbean Islands Swimming championships in The Bahamas. It is also the fastest time ever record at the competition. In that year he completed the Championship record Golden Double in the event. This as he had won the CARIFTA title in Martinique in a then record 2:07.26.

After qualifying first with the top yards time in the 200 backstroke Dols put down the best time in the event since that record swim in Nassau. He split 1;00.42 before stopping the clock in 2:04.62 to earn a spot on the podium taking the Bronze.

Yeziel Morales.Photo courtesy of http://www.rumboalcamerino.com/

Silver was won by American Ethan Beach , an Olympic Trials qualifier in this event won the Silver in 2:02.75. The Gold was won by Puerto Rican star Yeziel Morales of Azura Florida Aquatics in 2:01.13.Morales set a new national record a week earlier at the South American Championships in Buenos Aires in 1:59.38.

In the 200 metre butterfly Keanan posted his fastest time since 2018. He swam to a time of of 2:01.71 (split time 57.35) to finish fourth. In his first long course swim in the event for 2021 Dols just missed his personal best time of 2:01.32. That personal record was set during the heats of the event at the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Championships in Barranquilla Colombia where en route to the championship final.

200 metre butterfly	2021	2018
First 50	26.48	27.12
Second 50	30.87	30.94
Third 50	31.13	31.40
Fourth 50	33.23	31.86
Total Time	2:01.71	2:01.32

The Gold was won by Keanan’s Gator swim Club teammate American Caeleb Dressel in a meet record of 1:58.74. Jace Crawford , unattached took the Silver in 2:01.07. Another Gator Grant Sanders took the Bronze in 2:01.57.

Keanan Dols

With a great start to 2021 on the road to Olympic qualification draftingthecaribbean spoke Dols about his impression of the meet and the way forward

“For the 200 fly I was happy with the time but I know it could have been significantly better. I set my self up well up to the 150 but didn’t close out the race as I am capable. For the meet as a whole I was extremely happy with the short course results but not quite satisfied with the long course results. I know the long course times could have been faster and I’m looking forward to getting chances to race again as the year goes on. I’m getting ready for the Mission Viejo Pro Swim Series April 8 -11 and hope to do well there”.

CONQUERING LION,ALEX CRUSHES NATIONAL RECORD AND RECORDS VICTORY IN ANOTHER OLYMPIC B TIME IN STAR STUDDED 200 METRE FREESTYLE FINAL

The finals on Friday night of the ISCA International International saw the CARIFTA region stars recording three wins. Max Wilson of the US Virgin Islands started the streak with a new 15-17 and open record in the 50 metre taking Gold in the 16 and under boys 50 metre backstroke. Madelyn Moore of Bermuda who has been on fire since her Conference domination took the women 50 metre backstroke. The night was punctuated in the final event by the scintillating win by Alex Sobers in the men’s 200 metre freestyle. The win saw him crushing his national record in event and recording his second Olympic B cut in as many long course swims.

Alex Sobers holder of four individual and a member of all five record relay teams. Photo courtesy of goeclions.com

Sobers, who is a graduate of the Emmanuel College known as the Lions cruised to the the final with his yard heats time of 1:36.64. He still holds the school record of 1:34.76. The final which would be contested in long course metres would see Sobers seeded eighth.

2011 World Championship medallists from left to right Michael Phelp Silver,Lochte Gold, Paul Biedermann Bronze. Photo courtesy ofsports.ndtv.com

The final would feature Americans Ryan Lochte 2011 World Champion and the eighth fastest man in history in the event and a member of all the winning 4 x 200 metre freestyle Olympic teams from 2004 to 2016, and Caleb Dressel reigning World Champion and national record holder in the 50 and 100 metre freestyle.

Caeleb Dressel

Also adding to the quality of the race were Olympian Khader Baqlah of Jordan the 2020 SEC Champion in the 200 yard freestyle and a member of the ISL team the Cali Condors, Hungarian Norbert Szabo ,Chilean Gabriel Araya and Peruvian Joaquin Vargas.

Khader Baqlah

When the race got under way it was Szabo and Baqlah that held the early advantage with sub 26 second splits of 25.63 and 25.71. At the 100 metres say Sobers moving in to second with time of 53.73 but Khader now had the lead with a time of 53.23 and Vargas within striking distance at 53.78. At the 150 Baqlah and Sobers separated themselves turning at 1:21.09 and 1:21.24 respectively. It was on this last 50 metres that the Lion roared. Sobers pulled away from the Jordanian with a split of 27.11 to take an impressive in 1:48.35. He crushed his old national record of 1:50.87 set when he won the B final of the event at the 2019 PAN AM Games in Lima Peru.

Alex Sobers

The Conquering Lion from Barbados was well under the Tokyo Olympic B time of 1:50.23. Now in his sights will be on the A time of 1:47.02.

Silver went to Khader in 1:48.62. The Bronze went to Dressel who attempted a rear guard fightback with a closing 50 metres of 26.26 to touch in 1:49.26.

Joaquin Vargas with yet another record breaking swim at the ISCA International Senior Cup.Photo courtesy of Azura Florida Aquatics

Vargas who has been on fire this month missed the national record at the South American Swimming Championships with a fourth place finish of 1:50.83 on March 17 in Buenos Aires .This time the record would go as he became the first swimmer from his nation under 1:50 and also achieved the Olympic B time as he clocked 1:49.71.

Szabo placed fifth in 1:50.88 missing his personal record of 1:50.35 . Lochte sixth in 1:51.87 and Araya seventh in 1:51.90 , just off his personal best of 1:51.78 set in 2019.

Results of 200 metre freestyle Championship final.Photo courtesy of Azura Florida Aquatics

Comparison of National Record Swims

200 metre freestyle	August 7,2019	March 26,2021
First 50	26.21	26.14
Second 50	28.22	27.59
Third 50	28.32	27.51
Fourth 50	28.12	27.11
Total Time	1:50.87	1:48.35

Alex starting the 200 metre freestyle en route to a famous victory

With this victory Sobers has again proved that Barbados and the CARIFTA region cannot be overlooked when stepping behind the blocks and getting ready to race.

NOAH CRUSHES 800 METRE FREESTYLE RECORD AS THE EASTERN CARIBBEAN SWIMMERS CONTINUE TO EXCEL

The swimmers of the Eastern Caribbean continue to get better as the Tokyo Olympics approach. A contingent of some of the best swimmers are currently competing at the ISCA International Senior Cup in St Petersburg Florida.

Noah Mascoll-Gomes.Photo courtesy of Azura Florida Aquatics

On the first day of the meet which started on Tuesday there was a huge time drop from Noah Mascoll -Gomes of Antigua and Barbuda and the Azura Florida Aquatics in the 800 metre freestyle. He shattered his national record by more than ten seconds. Less than 20 days prior he had set his country’s standard at 8:43.80 at the Piranha Senior Invite. On Tuesday March 23 he took a huge chunk of time off the record to place 13th in 8:31.87

Comparison of National records

800 metre freestyle	March 4	March 23
First 200	2:07.97	2:02.23
Second 200	2:12.78	2:10.55
Third 200	2:13.51	2:11.76
Fourth 200	2:09.54	2:07.33
Total Time	8:43.80	8:31.87

Draftingthecaribbean spoke to the Head Coach at Azura Gian Luca Alberani and he gave his analysis of the national record swim

” I believe Noah is having a big progression. He is enjoying the process and has been working very hard and above all he has improved how he is managing his race. He is very aware of his potential and continuing to develop his skills both technically and mentally. We are very excited to see his projection and we are looking forward to the next events”.

Stefano Mitchell .Photo courtesy of Azura Florida Aquatics

His countryman Stefano Mitchell continued the record breaking on Thursday during the prelims of the 50 yard freestyle. He took down the mark of 20.84 by Diallo Marshall set this past February. The Azura Florida swimmer registered a time of 20.81. That earned him a second swim in the evening which was contested in long course metres. Swimming in the C final of event he recorded 23.81 to place third. He was just off his season best time of 23.72.

Kerry Ollivierre. Photo courtesy of Azura Florida Aquatics

From Grenada Kerry Ollivierre who also competes for Azura as well recorded a personal best time in the 50 metre breaststroke.He covered the course in a time of 31.34.

Jayhan Odlum-Smith.Photo courtesy of Azura Florida Aquatics

His teammate Jayhan Odlum-Smith of Saint Lucia was sixth in the B final of the 50 metre freestyle. He touched in a time of 24.23 for a new personal. He has lowered his time in the event three times since the start of 2021.In the 50 metre butterfly he recorded the second fastest time of his career clocking 25.06. That ensured his victory in the B final of the event . His best and national record stands at 24.86.

AVILA RATTLES BUTTERFLY RECORD , HORREGO COMPLETES BREASTSTROKE SWEEP AT PIRANHAS INVITE

The final day of the 2021 Plantation Senior Invite saw Hondurans Julimar Avila and Julio Horrego continuing to round into form and pursue Olympic qualification.

Julimar Avila.Photo courtesy of Azura Florida Aquatics

Avila who represents the Azura Florida Aquatics had a big swim in the 200 metre butterfly. She earned third place in a time 2:20.78(split time 1:06.98). That swim was the fastest time she had since she set the national record of 2:19.56 at the 2013 Barcelona World Championships. Silver went to Samantha Banos of Seal Beach Swim Club in 2:19.68. The Gold went to Maddie Smutny of South Florida in 2:14.37.

She closed the meet leading off the Azura Florida Aquatics team in the 400 metre freestyle. The team of Avila 59.19,Coleen Ferguson of the Marshall Islands 1:01.06 and the Uruguayan duo of Nicole Frank 1:00.19 and Micaela Sierra 1:00.43 touched in 4:00.87 to tie with South Florida Aquatics. Gold went to Phoenix swimming in 3:55.75.

Julimar Avila courtesy of Linkedin

When her coach Gian Luca was asked about her training was going for the season he said this about the Boston University graduate who majored in Human Physiology

“She is enjoying what she is doing and adapting to the new system and at age 24 she is finding new motivation.She will be where she needs to be at the right time”

Julio Horrego

Countryman Horrego representing South Florida Aquatics completed the breaststroke sweep when he won the 200 metre breaststroke on Sunday. He won in a season best time of 2:18.40 (split time 1:06.35). The swim represents his fastest out since the 2019 PAN AM Games when he placed fourth in the B finals. Second went to to his teammate Juan Mora in 2:20.23. Third was won by fellow B finalist in the event Adriel Sanes of the US Virgin Islands in 2:22.80.

The four day meet held in Plantation Florida saw Horrego leading off the 400 metre freestyle relay team. The Florida State University graduate split 53.09 to help the B team to fourth place in 3:45.89