Saturday, June 30 2012

DESPITE getting three-medal hauls from Jabari Baptiste and Alexandria Donahue Trinidad and Tobago finished 13 points behind Cuba as the curtains came down on the Caribbean Island Swimming Championship (CISC) in Aruba on Wednesday.

As a result TT failed in their bid to retain their title they won last year. At the Roly Bisslik Swim Pool, Savaneta on the final day Baptiste added two more gold medals to the local tally, when he splashed to victory in the Boys 13-14 100m backstroke and the 100m freestyle.

The former saw Baptiste finish in 1:01.71, ahead of Surinamese runner-up Daniel Kolf (1:03.54) and third placed Aruban Raigel Hoen (1:05.62). In the 100m freestyle, the national swimmer finished in a golden time of 53.76s, ahead of Suriname’s Zuhayr Pigot (54.20) and Puerto Rican Andres Solivan (54.66).

Donahue bagged TT’s final gold medal of the competition when she touched the wall in 1:14.21 of the Girls 15-17 100m breaststroke. She finished ahead of Breanna Roman of Jamaica (1:14.68) and Evita Leter of Suriname (1:16.44).

However it was not enough for the local team to record a hat-trick of CISC titles as Aruba went on to clinch the 2012 crown with 890 points. TT were squeezed out from pole position and received silver with 877pts while Puerto Rico came in third on a distant 55.85pts.

However, Baptiste and Kimberlee John Williams went on to cop respective overall first place trophies. In the Boys 13-14 category, Baptiste altogether tallied 49 points, which edged out the division’s runner-up Mikel Schreuders (48 pts) of Aruba and third placed Andres Solivan (41pts) of Puerto Rico.

Williams and Daniella van den Berg (Aruba) received top honours in the Girls 15-17 category as they both finished on 43pts overall. Jamaica’s Breanna Roman had to settle for third position with 42pts.

Also medalling for TT on the final day was Amira Pilgrim, with her silver medal finish (28.93s) in the 11-12 50m freestyle. Copping gold was Jamaica’s Angara Sinclair (28.83s) while Aruba’s Florence Kock claimed the bronze (28.97s).

In the Girls 13-14 200m Individual Medley, Syria David also grabbed silver (2:34.93) in a race won by Kimberley Willoughby of Barbados (2:33.40) with Suriname’s Candis Pique (2:36.18) third. Rebecca Marshall, competing in the Girls 15-17 200m Individual Medley, took runner-up spot in 2:30.27, as van den Berg (2:29.44) won gold and Roman (2:31.11) came in third.

Jonathan Ramkissoon bagged silver in the Boys 15-17 100m breast in 1:06.81 with Diguan Pigot (Suriname) first and setting a new record in 1:05.83, and Aruba’s Jordy Groters (1:07.57) third respectively.

The Boys 18 and Over equivalent saw Bermuda’s Julian Fletcher winning in record-breaking time (1:04.83) as local boy Napoleon Howell followed behind (1:04.98) and Abraham Mc Leod third (1:05.37). Silver medals also went to the Boys 11-12 400m relay team (Christian Marsden, Dario Omiss, Kael Yorke, James Gillette) who clocked 4:41.33 in the race won by Puerto Rico (4:39.40) with Aruba third (4:49.81).

Theana Hay was third in the Girls 15-17 800m free in 10:24.70 with first and second places going to Aruba’s van den Berg (9:28.69) and Netherlands Antilles’ Megan Trenidad (10:03.02).

Dario Omiss, in the Boys 11-12 100m breast, also received a bronze medal in a race won by Grenada’s Kerry Ollivierre (1:16.90) with George Den Dunnen of Aruba second in 1:17.67.

Also third was the Girls 13-14 400m medley relay team (Ariel Cape, Jessica Gay, Syriah David, Samantha Khan) in 4:51.68 behind winners Puerto Rico (4:42.45) and runners-up Bahamas (4:48.87).

The Boys 13-14 400m relay team of Dyllon Joshua, Jonathan Ramkissoon, David Wiltshire and Jabari Baptiste, finished in (4:17.04) behind Suriname (4:11.29) and Puerto Rico (4:14.75) respectively.



Final Results: 1. Aruba 890 pts; 2. TT 877 pts; 3. Puerto Rico 558.5pts, 4. Suriname 471pts; 5. Bahamas 460pts; 6. Barbados 417pts; 7. Jamaica 356pts; 8. Bermuda 339pts, 9. Dominican Republic 253.5pts; 10. Netherlands Antilles 226pts; 11. St Lucia 103.5pts; 12. US Virgin Islands 75pts; 13. Grenada 66.5pts; 14. Antigua/Barbuda 14pts; 15. British Virgin Islands 4pts.