Pouchet: TT swimmers pulled their weight

SHERDON PIERRE

Sixteen members of the national squad who competed at the CARIFTA Swimming Championships returned home on Wednesday afternoon at the old Piarco International Airport from Kingston, Jamaica. Some members returned later that night, while others travelled to St Lucia for another meet. TT placed second on the medals table with 19 gold, 19 silver and seven bronze medals. Bahamas were the leaders, capturing 23 gold, 22 silver and 11 bronze medals, while Barbados rounded off the top three hauling 14 gold, nine silver and seven bronze medals.

TT placed fourth on the point standings, amassing 756 points from the 115 events of the competition. Bahamas were clear winners (789) followed by Guadeloupe (608) and Jamaica (607.50).

National head coach, Shawn Pouchet, was pleased with the achievements of the local contingent. “We went with a small team of 24, instead of the usual 36 swimmers. We had a rough time getting over there, but once we reached there we focused the kids, letting them know they have a responsibility to pull extra weight,” he said.

“Individually, we did well, also in the relays, having worked hard on it, plus we didn’t have any disqualifications. Particularly, the 11-12 age group performed beyond expectations, whereas most of our swimmers improved on their time but the competition was tough. Graham Chatoor, Jahmia Harley and Kael Yorke pulled us out in the higher age groups," he continued.

Zarek Wilson was TT's top performer in the meet, amassing 10 medals (nine gold and one silver) in the 11-12 age group. Pouchet, who is one of Wilson's coaches at Blue Dolphin Swim Club, was full of praises for the youngster. “We are proud of his performances; it is still a work in progress because he is at a young stage of his career. It’s a great achievement but we have to keep him grounded, he has a long way to go in his swimming career.” He also specially mentioned Josiah Changar and Nikoli Blackman, who along with Wilson, pushed each other in that age group with several top two finishes.

Looking ahead to meets later this year, Pouchet said, “We are well-positioned from a swimming perspective for the Central American and Caribbean Amateur Swimming Confederation (CCCAN); we have a number of swimmers who didn’t make the cut for CARIFTA but have already qualified for CCCAN and we will be bringing in some of our more seasoned 18 and over athletes.” He added, “I don’t know about the availability of Dylan Carter but we still have a lot of swimmers we can call on to strengthen the team. If we put together a similar contingent to last year, I think we can retain the title.”

Secretary of the Amateur Swimming Association of Trinidad & Tobago (ASATT) Andrea Brache was present to welcome the team and she said, “We are proud of our swimmers and we couldn`t have asked them to do more than what they did, a job well done.” She said the next championship will be the CCCAN in Aruba from June 26- July 6, 2018.