[UPDATED] Swimmer Trent Bethel's hard work pays off at Special Olympics

Trinidad and Tobago's Trent Bethel splashed to gold on Monday in the 1,500m open water swimming event at the Special Olympics World Games in Germany, earning this country's first medal at the 2023 competition.

The games, held in Berlin, began on June 17 and will end on June 25.

In the preliminary round, on Monday, Bethel finished with the fastest time of 13 athletes – 13 minutes, 23.8 seconds.

After athletes were grouped by age, gender and ability, he placed first in his division with a time of 20 minutes, 25.7 seconds. Placing second was Puerto Rico's Armando Renta Ramos (22.28.7), third was Rasheed Lawrence of the Cayman Islands (24.10.9) and fourth was Italy's Alessandro Pintus (24.43.0).

In a press release, Special Olympics TT (SOTT) congratulated Bethel saying there was elation in the camp when the news came in.

SOTT said Bethel had been in prolific form in local competitions over the past 15 months. He completed the inaugural 7k open-water swim from Foreshore to Five Islands in March 2022 and won the Special Olympics category in the 2,300m open-water swim from Caledonia Island to Carenage in April 2022.

He was the first Special Olympics athlete to qualify for a national swimming team in 2022 when he competed in the Aquatic Sports Association's 10k qualifying open-water swim.

Speaking to Newsday on Monday, SOTT director Ferdinand Bibby said he is very proud of Bethel who has "worked really hard in preparing for the games.

"He would have done a number of races over the last two years...This is the culmination of his hard work and the reward for it."

Fellow team TTO swimmers Shania Surujbally and Victoria Samuel placed fourth and sixth, respectively, in the 50m freestyle.

Surujbally competed in division FA04 and had a time of 44.76 seconds, and Samuel competed in the FA02 division and earned a time of 51.03 seconds.

Samuel won her 25m backstroke semi-final heat in 26.72 seconds.

Surujbally placed sixth in the 100m freestyle quarterfinal in one minute, 47.63 seconds.

Additionally, TT's Donovan Garib placed fourth in his 50m butterfly event with a time of 34.46 seconds.

In the field events, TT's Tershana Tempro leapt a distance of 2.43m in the long jump quarterfinals, and Melissa Nanan jumped 1.77m.

Also, TT's Nathan Mc Clean came second in his long jump category with a distance of 3.01m, while D'Andre Mc Guirk placed sixth with 2.27m.

On the track, TT's Cadel Cuffy placed third in the 200m quarterfinal with a time of 24.06 seconds.

This story was originally published with the title "Trent Bethel wins open-water gold at Special Olympics World Games" and has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.

Trinidad and Tobago's Trent Bethel splashed to gold on Monday in the 1,500m open water swimming event at the Special Olympics World Games in Germany, earning this country's first medal at the 2023 competition.

The games, held in Berlin, began on June 17 and will end on June 25.

In the preliminary round, on Monday, Bethel finished with the fastest time of 13 athletes – 13 minutes, 23.8 seconds.

After athletes were grouped by age, gender and ability, he placed first in his division with a time of 20 minutes, 25.7 seconds. Placing second was Puerto Rico's Armando Renta Ramos (22.28.7), third was Rasheed Lawrence of the Cayman Islands (24.10.9) and fourth was Italy's Alessandro Pintus (24.43.0).

Fellow team TTO swimmers Shania Surujbally and Victoria Samuel placed fourth and sixth, respectively, in the 50m freestyle.

Surujbally competed in division FA04 and had a time of 44.76 seconds, and Samuel competed in the FA02 division and earned a time of 51.03 seconds.

Samuel won her 25m backstroke semi-final heat in 26.72 seconds.

Surujbally placed sixth in the 100m freestyle quarterfinal in one minute, 47.63 seconds.

Additionally, TT's Donovan Garib placed fourth in his 50m butterfly event with a time of 34.46 seconds.

In the field events, TT's Tershana Tempro leapt a distance of 2.43m in the long jump quarterfinals, and Melissa Nanan jumped 1.77m.

On the track, TT's Cadel Cuffy placed third in the 200m quarterfinal with a time of 24.06 seconds.