Riley Watson earns back-to-back medals at CARIFTA

Heading into day three of the CARIFTA aquatic games, taking place in the Bahamas, Cayman Islands swimmer Riley Watson, 14, earned a bronze medal in the first long-distance swim of the evening finals.

She swam for just over 19 minutes in the 1,500-metre freestyle swim, turning up the gas in the final stretch to beat out Martinique by 0.04 seconds in the 1 April race. Moments later, she was back in the pool to swim the 200m individual medley, and she again took bronze.

Commentators Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace, who formerly represented the Bahamas in the Olympics, and Alia Atkinson, who formerly represented Jamaica in the Olympics, credited Watson for her tenacity, saying, “This is how you persevere in the sport.”

The entire Cayman Islands swim team dug deep in the third day of competition in the Bahamas to bring the medal count to 39, just two behind Trinidad and Tobago. Bahamas leads with 73 medals.

The Cayman Islands maintains an edge over Trinidad and Tobago in the combined team scores though, leading 495 to 466. The larger Bahamas team has put up 804.5 points to date.

Rallying in relays

Teamwork was the name of the game on Monday, especially in the final relay competitions. The swimmers made it to the podium in three of the four 800m freestyle relays.

Day Three Medallists

• Riley Watson, women’s 13-14 1,500m freestyle, bronze; 200m individual medley, bronze
• Harper Barrowman, women’s 15-17 1,500m freestyle, gold; 100m freestyle, bronze
• Sierrah Broadbelt, women’s 15-17 200m individual medley, gold; 200m butterfly, gold
• Azania Osborne, women’s 13-14 50m breaststroke, silver
• Jillian Crooks, women’s 15-17 100m freestyle, gold
• James Allison, men’s 15-17 100m freestyle, silver
• Teagan Nash, women’s 15-17 200m butterfly, bronze
• Men’s 13-14 800m freestyle relay, silver (Lennox Turnham-Wheatley, Gabriel Bispath, Lev Fahy, Luke Higgo)
• Women’s 15-17 800m freestyle relay, gold (Sofia Bonati, Sierrah Broadbelt, Teagan Nash, Harper Barrowman)
• Men’s 15-17 800m freestyle relay, bronze (Connor Macdonald, Will Sellars, Dominic Hilton, James Allison)

The relays had viewers on the edge of their seats, but especially the final men’s 15-17 800m freestyle. Connor Macdonald, Will Sellars, Dominic Hilton and James Allison spent the entire race jockeying for a leading position in the relay, fighting Martinique for second place midway through.

All three medalling teams hit the touchpad within a fraction of a second, a remarkable feat in a lengthy relay. Martinique finished at 7:58:28; the Bahamas finished at 7:58:56; and the Cayman Islands finished at 7:58:83.

First-place finishes

Cayman’s swimmers also continued to secure gold in many races.

Harper Barrowman won gold in the women’s 15-17 1,500m freestyle; Sierrah Broadbelt won gold in the women’s 15-17 200m individual medley and 200m butterfly; and Jillian Crooks won gold in the women’s 15-17 100m freestyle.

Younger swimmers step up

Cayman Islands Aquatic Sports Association president Steve Broadbelt commended the team’s medal winners for their trips to the podium, but also credited the younger swimmers.

Kylen McLean, 12, competed in the finals of the men’s 11-12 100m freestyle, finishing sixth with a time of 1:03:45. First-time competitor Cassidy Coles, 13, swam in the women’s 13-14 200m butterfly, securing fifth with a time of 2:45:20.

Teammates in the 11-12 and 13-14 age groups have helped the Cayman Islands maintain a strong presence across the board, with everyone contributing toward the all-important overall team score.

Twelve-year-old Colt Higgo, who is competing for the first time, put up a solid 2:27:16 in the preliminaries of the men’s 11-12 50m breaststroke on Monday, taking sixth place.

He said his experience has been a fun challenge, and it was rewarding to meet athletes from other countries.

“It’s definitely different from swim meets in Cayman,” he said. “It’s much more competitive and faster.”

Higgo said he especially enjoyed his relays and the 200m breaststroke, where he swam in the same heat as McLean on the first morning of CARIFTA.

Steve Broadbelt said the Cayman Islands’ participants in the 11-12 age category have critically contributed to the team’s overall success.

“We have to invest in the next generation of swimmers,” he added.

The final day of pool-based races continues on Tuesday, and the aquatics session ends on Wednesday with the open-water competition.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that commentator Alia Atkinson formerly represented the Bahamas in the Olympics. In fact, Atkinson represented Jamaica in the Olympics. This version has been corrected and the Compass apologises for the error.