Swimmer Blackman sets personal best time at Junior Pan Am Games

SWIMMER Nikoli Blackman set a personal best time in the men’s 400-metre freestyle to highlight Trinidad and Tobago’s performances on day two of the 2021 Junior Pan American Games in Cali, Colombia on Friday.

Swimming out of lane one in heat two, Blackman placed seventh in four minutes 9.15 seconds. The 2020 TT Olympic Committee Sportsman of the Year was unable to advance to the next round of competition.

Winning the heat was Argentinian Gian Turco (3:59.85) followed by Colombian Juan Restrepo (4:00.03) and Peruvian Rafael Castilla (4:02.50).

In heat three, Graham Chatoor placed fourth in 4:06.16. Capturing the top three spots were Brazilian Eduardo De Moraes (3:59.74), Peruvian Joaquin Gallo (4:02.55) and Chilean Eduardo Gomez (4:03) in that order. Chatoor also did not progress to the next stage.

National swimmer Kael Yorke also placed fourth in heat two of the men’s 200m butterfly. The 21-year-old touched the wall in 2:07.25 and finished behind winner Ascanio Urbina (2:01.57) of Mexico, Guatemalan Roberto Flores (2:01.65) and Brazilian Kayky Mota (2:03.31) respectively.

Additionally, TT’s lone female swimmer Gabriela Donahue (1:17.4) placed sixth in heat four of the women’s 100m breaststroke.

Into cycling, TT was unable to advance out of the men’s Under-23 Team Sprint event after placing fifth in the qualifiers. The national trio of Zion Pulido, Tariq Woods and Michael Ackee clocked 48.342 seconds. The top three finishers were Colombia, Argentina and Mexico.

Meanwhile, Jean Marc Granderson placed 27th in the men’s triathlon. He finished the three events in one hour, 11 minutes and 36 seconds.

Boxer Juan Rodriguez was scheduled to make his debut for TT in the men’s 52kg boxing category against Guatemalan Felipe Daniel. However, up to press time, his bout had not yet started.

TT’s athletes will return to action at the inaugural Junior Pan Am Games on Saturday.