TT Olympians on deck with junior swimmers – Carter gave us extra fuel at Carifta

TT JUNIOR captains, Amari Ash and Johann-Matthew Matamoro, said Olympian Dylan Carter inspired the team’s showing at the 37th Carifta Aquatic Championships in the Bahamas over the Easter weekend.

TT ended second in the medal standings with 56 medals – 24 gold, 15 silver, and 17 bronze medals. Home team Bahamas finished as the leaders with 101 medals – 34 gold, 39 silver, and 28 bronze medals. Cayman Islands were third with 50 medals – 18 gold medals, 13 silver, and 19 bronze.

In the point standings, Bahamas finished with 1,096.5 points, Cayman Islands were second with 660 points, and TT third with 639 points.

The TT swimmers returned home on Wednesday night after the meet ended on Tuesday. Speaking to the media at the Piarco International Airport, Matamoro said many of the swimmers got food poisoning and a gastro-intestinal infection, which led to their missing races.

But, he said, “Overall, very proud of the team. We took everything in stride, we were never down or complacent, we would hit everything on the nail.

Every final we swam, we were there cheering for each other, every relay, cheering for each other, whether we were in front or behind.”

Matamoro said having a TT swimming star like Carter motivated the junior swimmers.

“It feels good, as a young swimmer, knowing that there is a high-quality swimmer in Dylan Carter, who is one of the fastest swimmers in the world right now. It feels good knowing that he is there on deck with you, he is there in the same hotel as you, he is there cheering your name on. It gave us an extra fuel and I think our swimmers really needed that with the challenges that we faced, so I am very proud of our performance.”

TT Olympian Cherelle Thompson was also part of the contingent. Ash, speaking about the role of the TT Olympians in the Bahamas, said, “The first thing when Dylan came, he was telling us how to approach the first race. Whether your first race is bad or good...it is how you come back from that race. Having them there and giving us their opinion and giving us some of their insight was really helpful. It encouraged most of us to bounce back after a bad race, or how to approach a good race.”

Matamoro called on all tassa groups to come out in their numbers next year, when the Carifta Aquatic Championships are held in Trinidad. Jaden Mills was one of the stars for TT at the meet, leaving the Bahamas with six medals – five gold and one bronze. He competed in the boys’ 13-14 age group.

“Honestly I went out with just a drive to work hard because there were a lot of people that helped me make it to this point,” Mills said. “Really and truly I would not be here without my family, my friends and especially my school. I attend Queen’s Royal College, and they helped me a lot to come here, and my mom as well.”

Mills was part of the TT team which broke the boys’ 13-14 200m freestyle relay Carifta record. Twin brothers Joshua and Jonathan Sambrano and Aaron Colthrust were also part of the team, which won gold in one minute, 40.61 seconds. Next year, Mills will be graduating to the 15-17 age group.

“Next year, I will be first year 15-17, so it will be a challenge making it up on the podium, but I am up for the challenge. I am going to grind and I am going to work hard. It does not stop – this is where it begins.”

Team manager Keith Matamoro, Johann-Matthew’s father, was satisfied with the effort of the swimmers. “The performance of the team was spectacular. Everybody gave their best,” he said. Matamoro said there was a team effort among TT’s coaching staff, led by head coach Mark Pouchet.