Golden Liam Carrington breaks Nikoli Blackman's Carifta 100m free record

TT swimmer Liam Carrington dazzled on the third night of the 2025 Carifta Aquatics Championships at the National Aquatic Centre in Balmain, Couva, on April 21 as he copped two individual gold medals, including a record-setting performance in the boys’ 15-17 100-metre freestyle event.

Coming into the night’s proceedings with five gold medals to his name, Carrington added another gold to his tally when he topped the field in the boys’ 15-17 200m individual medley event with a time of two minutes, 5.67 seconds (2:05.67).

Carrington’s teammate Zachary Anthony also medalled in the individual medley as he snatched bronze in 2:11.94.

Carrington’s brilliant comeback effort in the individual medley, where he powered past Aruba’s Perna Fernandes (2:11.83), was a preview of greater things to come in the 100m freestyle.

Swimming out of lane three in the 100m free, Carrington seemed to be a man on a mission as he had Nikoli Blackman’s Carifta record of 50.07 seconds in his sights.

After completing the first 50 metres with the advantage, the crowd rose and cheered in great anticipation as Carrington hit the wall in a winning time of 49.86 to take 0.21 off the previous mark, once held by TT’s Blackman.

Fernandes placed second in 50.80, with St Lucia’s Antoine Destang claiming bronze in 51.55.

Carrington’s 100m free swim backed up the brilliance of his 100m backstroke swim from the previous night when he lowered the Carifta record to 55.32.

Olympian Zuri Ferguson was also in a golden mood for the hosts, and she brought the excited crowd to their feet when she topped the girls’ 15-17 200 individual medley in 2:25.95.

Ferguson separated herself from her competitors on the backstroke leg and beat Cayman Islands’ Sierrah Broadbelt (2:26.77) into second, with Bahamian swimmer Elyse Wood (2:29.25) placing third.

On April 20, Ferguson was also a class above the rest when she broke the 100m backstroke record and clocked a time of 1:02.48.

The previous record stood at 1:02.82.

It was the second record-breaking feat for Ferguson at these 2025 games, as she set a new girls’ 15-17 50m backstroke mark on day one.

Also among the medals for TT on April 21 were Zara Persico (silver) and Marena Martinez (bronze), who set the tone in the girls’ 13-14 1,500m freestyle, an event which was won by USVI swimmer Reagan Uszenski in a record-breaking time of 18:03.37.

Reagan Belmar (2:33.14) and Brenna Belmar (2:36.02) claimed silver and bronze in the girls’ 13-14 200m individual medley, to go along with Breanna’s bronze in the girls’ 13-14 50m breaststroke.

Up to press time, TT had bagged 16 medals (three gold, four silver, nine bronze) on night three, with Zalayhar Lewis (silver, girls’ 11-12 50m breaststroke), Ethan McMillan Cole (bronze, boys’ 13-14 50m breaststroke), Catherine Dieffenthaller (silver, girls’ 15-17 50m breastroke) and Liam Roberts (bronze, boys’ 15-17 50m breaststroke) also bagging medals.

Late on night two, TT’s girls’ quartet of Keryn Burke, Dieffenthaller, Toni Rae Yates and Ferguson had too much quality for the field as they clinched gold in the girls’ 15-17 400m relay medley with a swim of four minutes, 27.77 seconds (4:27.77).

There was an almighty battle on for the silver medal, with Bahamas (4:31.55) beating Martinique (4:32.92) into third.

TT’s boys’ 15-17 400m medley team were not to be denied of glory, as they registered a first-place finish ahead of Jamaica and Bahamas.

The TT quartet of Anthony, Carrington, Evan Gillard-Bruce and Roberts stopped the clock at 3:54.86, with Jamaica (3:56.47) and Bahamas (3:58.22) having to settle for silver and bronze.

At press time on April 21, TT’s overall medal count stood at 40, with 13 gold medals included.