Nikoli Blackman splashes to more gold at Comonwealth Youth Games

Nikoli Blackman delivered another flawless performance in the pool as he powered to 100m freestyle gold on day two of the 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games swim events at the National Aquatics Centre in Balmain, Couva, on Monday.

Compatriot Zarek Wilson also got on the medal sheet for TT when he splashed to men's 50m backstroke bronze.

In the 100m final, Blackman, 18, was quick out of the lane four blocks and touched the wall second fastest over the first 50m.

With the final 50m to go, Blackman amplified his pace and pulled away from the pack to clock a golden 49.60 seconds.

Just like his 200m free win on Sunday night, Blackman had the crowd on their feet, cheering him on to victory.

Holding on to silver was Scotland's Matthew Ward, who clocked 50.26s. Swimming to bronze was Bahamian Marcin Johnson Jr in 50.41s.

In the earlier heats, Blackman was fastest to finish in heat five of five. He clocked 50.62s in the preliminaries and entered the final with the fastest qualifying time.

Meanwhile, Wilson showed grit in his 50m back final by completing the distance in 26.18s.

Swimming out of lane three, Wilson was only bettered by Ward, who was golden in 25.51s. Claiming bronze was Bahamian Nigel Forbes in 26.32s.

In the morning heats Wilson advanced to the final after finishing second fastest in heat two of four. He clocked 26.51s while Bahamian Nigel Forbes (26.46s) won the heat. Wilson’s preliminary time was the third fastest of the finalists.

The pair's efforts carried the nation's Games' medal tally to three.

Blackman and Wilson expressed elation with their performances.

"Amazing, it really is. I want to get another gold in my other event, 50m free (Wednesday). I know exactly what I had to work on and I got a little roll out on my legs because they were hurting this morning. And that helped me," Blackman said.

Wilson was all smiles.

"I'm just happy to represent my country. I did some stretches and was working on my stroke rate to keep it going fast. Luckily I did a really good finish to get second.

"Hearing the crowd cheer me on motivated me. Now I'm just looking toward the 100 fly tomorrow (Tuesday) and 50 free," Wilson said.

Earlier in the day, in the 65km men’s road race, which pedalled off at Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Tarouba, TT’s Jadian Neaves did well to finish sixth in one hour, 33 minutes and 55 seconds (1:33:55). Compatriot Justin Boynes (1:34:50) placed 17th.

Of the 36 starters, Northern Ireland’s Oisin Ferrity reigned supreme and pedalled to Commonwealth Youth gold in 1:33:05. Welsh rider Max Bufton tried to outsprint Ferrity in front of the finish line but he had to settle for the silver medal.

Malaysian Newjoe Lau held on the bronze in 1:33:25 and Australian Samuel McKee (1:33:55) and Welshman Sam Fisher (1:33:55) rounded off the top five finishes respectively.

In the women’s equivalent, TT’s Ashleigh Thomas completed the 55km ride in 1:59:08. She placed 15th among the 20 participants.

But it was Australia’s Keira Will (1:29:00) and Lauren Emily Bates, who rode to gold and silver respectively, with Isle of Man’s Ruby Oakes coming in third; almost three minutes behind the top two. South Africa’s Jessie Munton and Welsh cyclist Lorwi Richards were fourth and fifth, in that order.

In rugby sevens action at Shaw Park in Tobago, TT’s men’s team recorded a good 22-14 win over Jamaica in the morning session but were destroyed 57-0 against Canada in the afternoon session.

The TT women’s team were stunned in their two matches on Monday as they were whipped 48-0 by Kenya, then drubbed 59-0 courtesy a ruthless Canadian outfit.

Both teams return to competition on Tuesday with the men against Scotland (9am) and the women versus Wales.

To beach volleyball at the Black Rock Facility, TT men and women’s teams both lost their round of 16 openers on Monday.

Against Rwanda, TT’s Jerome Morrison and Jahreef Miguel lost 2-1, with the visitors winning the first set 21-17. TT bounced back to snag the second set 21-11 but Rwanda’s Tristan Kayiranga and D’assise Mugisha were too good in the final set and grabbed a 15-11 victory.

In the women’s division, TT’s Meeka Lewis Johnson and L’fe Roberts went down 2-0 to New Zealand’s Tineke Hinton and Kiana Stevenson. The Kiwis won both sets 21-9.

Other Results

Rugby Sevens

Men

Fiji 32 def. Scotland 5

South Africa 38 def. Canada 0

Scotland 19 def. South Africa 17

Fiji 91 def. Jamaica 0

Women

Australia 26 def. Wales 7

Canada 19 def. Fiji 17

Fiji 21 def. Wales 15

Australia 45 def. Kenya 0

Beach Volleyball

Men

St Lucia 2 def. St Kitts & Nevis 0

England 2 def. Sri Lanka 0

Women

Bermuda 2 def. Rwanda 0

England 2 def. Cayman Islands 0

Scotland 2 def. Vanuatu 1