Wilson powers to triple gold at CARIFTA swim

ZAREK WILSON powered his way to three gold medals on Sunday, the second day of the four-day CARIFTA Aquatic Championships, at the National Aquatic Centre, Jamaica.

On the day, Trinidad and Tobago bagged 14 medals – five gold, seven silver and two bronze. And, at the halfway stage of the Meet, Trinidad and Tobago have a tally of 25 medals – 11 gold, 10 silver and four bronze.

Ironically, Wilson and countryman Nikoli Blackman finished in the top two positions three times on Sunday, to go along their one-two placing in the boys 11-12 50-metre backstroke on Saturday.

Wilson got his first victory in the boys 11-12 200m freestyle in two minutes 7.03 seconds, with Blackman following in 2:08.43. In the boys 11-12 100m backstroke, Wilson was victorious in 1:06.68, with Blackman next in 1:11.71.

And, in the boys 11-12 400m individual medley, Wilson was first in 5:10.41, with Blackman a distant second in 5:18.60.

The other two gold medals earned by TT on Sunday came in the 400m medley relays. The girls 11-12 team won in a time of 4:56.97, with Guadeloupe (5:01.66) and Bermuda (5:02.34) trailing while the boys 11-12 squad completed the race in 4:44.35, ahead of French Guiana (4:48.18) and Bahamas (4:51.89).

Zoe Anthony, in the girls 11-12 age group, captured three silver medals on Sunday – in the 200m freestyle (2:17.64), 50m butterfly (30.88) and 400m individual medley (5:31.74).

And Kael Yorke got silver in the boys 15-17 50m butterfly in 25.45. Graham Chatoor placed third in the boys 15-17 200m freestyle in 1:57.15 while the boys 15-17 4x100m medley relay team got bronze in 4:01.29.

In the combined team scores category, Trinidad and Tobago are fourth with 291 points, trailing the Bahamas (416), hosts Jamaica (329) and Guadeloupe (327).

The CARIFTA Aquatic Championships will conclude today.