Trinidad and Tobago golden on opening night of Carifta Aquatics

ZURI Ferguson, Liam Carrington and Catherine Dieffenthaller dazzled in front of their raucous home crowd on day one of the 2025 Carifta Aquatics Championships at the National Aquatic Centre in Balmain, Couva, on April 19.

Up to press time at 7.30 pm, Trinidad and Tobago had ten medals – three gold, four silver and three bronze.

TT and the Bahamas had the largest and the loudest supporters and their athletes certainly did not disappoint. The Provi-QRC Steel Orchestra was fully behind the TT athletes, while the Junkanoo band made their presence felt in support of the Bahamas. The Provi-QRC team had steelpans and drums and the Junkanoo band had a range of instruments including drums and trumpets.

Ferguson lowered the Carifta standard in the girls' 15-17 50m backstroke event twice on the day. In the evening session, she claimed gold in 29.18 seconds.

Jamaican Carolyn Levy-Powell took silver in 29.82 and Riley Miller of US Virgin Islands claimed bronze in 30.03.

Carrington demonstrated his class in the boys 15-17 50m backstroke final as the US-based swimmer won in 25.97. Ellie Gibson of the Bahamas was second in 27.13 and Ismael Holtuin of Suriname grabbed bronze in 27.36.

Dieffenthaller bagged gold in the girls' 15-17 200m breaststroke in two minutes, 44.08 seconds (2:44.08), followed by Antigua and Barbuda's Ellie Shaw (2:44.35) and Elyse Wood of the Bahamas in 2:45.99.

Zachary Anthony brought home silver in the boys 15-17 1,500m freestyle event behind his friend Dominic Hilton of the Cayman Islands. Hilton won the endurance event in 16:30.72 and Anthony was second in 16:44.40. Thomas Cechini of Bermuda rounded off the top three in 16:48.61.

When Anthony came out of the pool his older sister Zoe was there to hug him.

Speaking to the media, Anthony said he was able to stay with Hilton for more than half the race before the latter pulled away.

"We swam together for the first 900m. He is a formidable swimmer. He pulled away from me and I tried to hold on...that does not mean I am going to let that happen next year or the year after. I am going to work on myself, so I could beat him next time."

TT got another silver in the boys' 13-14 50m backstroke as Shian Griffith delivered a strong effort. Lev Fahy of the Cayman Islands won in 28.22, Griffith bagged silver in 28.82 and Martinique's Maxime Auguste-Charlery rounded off the top three in 29.07.

TT earned two medals in the girls 13-14 800m freestyle event.

Persico, who won multiple medals at last year's Carifta Games, showed she has what it takes to compete against the region's best once again. Persico won her heat in the morning session in 9:53.57, which was enough for a bronze overall.

In another heat held in the evening session, Marena Martinez ended in 9:49.52 which landed her the silver medal.

Copping bronze for TT was Raegan Belmar in the girls 13-14 200m breaststroke in 2:55.85. Bahamas, the six-time defending champions of the meet, took gold and silver. Isabella Cuccurullo won gold in 2:51.69 and Kimaya Saunders grabbed silver in 2:54.13.

The TT pair of Ethan McMillan-Cole and Jadon Ramdeen snatched silver and bronze respectively in the boys' 13-14 200m breaststroke. McMillan-Cole finished in 2:34.05 and Ramdeen stopped the clock in 2:35.31. The Bahamas continued to show that they mean business again this year as David Singh won gold in 2:31.79.

Earlier in the day, Ferguson and Carrington set the bar high for the TT swim team in the morning heats.

Ferguson, who made her Olympic debut last year at the Paris Games, had the fastest time in the girls' 15-17 50m backstroke heats as she clocked 29.23. Ferguson's time was a new Carifta record, but she lowered the mark later in the day.

Carrington finished his boys' 15-17 50m backstroke heat in 26.29. The US-based swimmer recorded the quickest time in the heats.

McMillan-Cole, Ramdeen (boys' 13-14 200m breaststroke) and Dieffenthaller (girls' 15-17 200m breaststroke) were among the TT swimmers giving an indication of what was to come later in the day with strong performances in the heats.

Action at the Carifta championships continues from April 20-22. The morning sessions start at 9 am and evening sessions run from 6 pm. The open water event will be held in Chaguaramas on April 23 from 9 am at the Five Islands Amusement Park.