Burke breaks girls 9-10 50m record

KERYN Burke smashed another age-group national record when the Amateur Swimming Association of TT (ASATT) Age Group Short-Course Championship continued on Thursday evening, rewriting a six-year-old record in the Girls 9-10 50-metre preliminary round.

At the National Aquatic Centre, Couva, the 10-year-old Atlantis Aquatics athlete clocked 31.61 seconds to erase the Jahmia Harley’s 2013 mark of 31.82 seconds.

Siena Jagdeo was Burke’s nearest challenger in the preliminary round, finishing nearly three full seconds behind in 34.57 seconds.

Burke has been on top form of recent, having broken another long-standing record in the 100m butterfly in a time of one minute, 13.91 seconds at the recent Long-Course Championship. Kimberlee John-Williams held the previous record of 1:14.32, set in 2005.

Apart from a record, more importantly, Burke walked away with precious metal on Thursday night, winning gold medals in the 100m butterfly and 200m freestyle. She clocked 1:12.69 in the 100m butterfly – just shy of rewriting Jada Chai’s 2012 record of 1:12.02 – and 2:23.40 in the 200m freestyle, well ahead ahead of runner-up Siddhi Sieusankar (2:37.37).

Meanwhile, Christiano Rivas came agonisingly close to breaking his older brother Giovanni Rivas’ boys 9-10 age group record (1:09.06) in the 100m butterfly.

Rivas (Christiano) eased to gold in 1:09.48, with runner-up Darren Belfon finishing well behind in 1:13.82 seconds.

Gabriel Bynoe was also an impressive winner on the night, clocking 26 seconds flat to win gold in the boys 15-17 50m butterfly, beating the favoured Malik Nelson, who finished second in 26.29 seconds. Action continued last night with a flurry of finals, and will resume again this evening at the same venue. The Championship will wrap up tomorrow.

SELECT RESULTS (FINALS) –

9-10 division

Boys

100m butterfly: 1st–Christiano Rivas (RWBAA), 1:09.48; 2nd–Darren Belfon (PFAD), 1:13.82; 3rd–Liam Carrington (PBSC), 1:14.28.

200m freestyle: 1st–Liam Carrington (PBSC), 2:22.92; 2nd–Darren Belfon (PFAD), 2:29.53; 3rd–Christiano Rivas (RWBAA), 2:31.64.

100m breaststroke: 1st–Rylan Thomas (Marl), 1:34.74; 2nd–Jannai Applewhite (TWA), 1:39.59; 3rd–Aaron Colthrust (FFSC), 1:41.59.

Girls

100m butterfly: 1st–Keryn Burke (ATLA), 1:12.69; 2nd–Siena Jagdeo (PBSC), 1:18.52; 3rd–Khayla Gouveia (SHSC), 1:23.09.

200m freestyle: 1st–Keryn Burke (ATLA), 2:23.40; 2nd–Siddhi Sieusankar (Marl), 2:37.37; 3rd–Khayla Gouveia (SHSC), 2:38.94.

100m breaststroke: 1st–Siena Jagdeo (PBSC), 1:34.89; 2nd–Khayla Gouveia (SHSC), 1:35.91; 3rd–Anya Davis (BDS), 1:35.94.

11-12 division

Boys

50m butterfly: 1st–Shaelan Reece (TWA), 30.03; 2nd–Andre Sandy (PFAD), 30.60; 3rd–Khadeem Brathwaite (Marl), 31.56.

13-14 division

Boys

50m butterfly: 1st–Kadon Williams (PFAD), 26.42; 2nd–Aaron Stewart (BDS), 26.60; 3rd–Riquelio Joseph (ATLA), 26.70.

Girls

50m butterfly: 1st–Caitlyn Look Fong (PBSC), 30.65; 2nd–Arielle Dickson (FFSC), 31.05; 3rd–Chazzane Charles (FFSC), 31.87.

15-17 division

Boys

50m butterfly: 1st–Gabriel Bynoe (TWA), 26.00; 2nd–Malik Nelson (ATLA), 26.29; 3rd–Delroy Tyrrell (TWA), 26.49.

Girls

50m butterfly: 1st–Jahmia Harley (TWA), 29.28; 2nd–Terri Yates (BDS), 29.29; 3rd–Dashor Edwards (ATLA), 29.32.

18&Over

Boys

50m butterfly: 1st­–Christian Awah (BDS), 24.16; 2nd–Josiah Parag (BDS), 25.87; 3rd–Kegan Ford (FFSC), 26.11.