Cayman swimmers take 2nd in aquatics, excel in open water at CARIFTA

Amid fireworks and raucous applause, Caymanian athletes celebrated their second-place finish in team points for this year’s CARIFTA Aquatics Championship on 2 April.

The four-day test of speed and endurance pushed swimmers to their limits as they competed in a multitude of races where longstanding tournament records fell and even long-distance races came down to a photo finish.

The Cayman Islands team held strong to the end, securing three medals in the freestyle relays, adding to the medals earned in the 50-metre freestyle, 200m backstroke and other individual races earlier in the day.

Every race proved vital as the Cayman Islands maintained second place in team scores with 660 points, beating Trinidad and Tobago’s 639 points. Host Bahamas, which by far had the most athletes competing, earned 1,096.5 points.

Trinidad and Tobago did get the edge over Cayman in the medal count, though. The Bahamas took home 101 medals; Trinidad and Tobago came away with 56; and the Cayman Islands earned 50.

Open water

Rounding out the CARIFTA events, the open-water swim competition took place the morning of 3 April at Goodman’s Bay in the Bahamas.

Some familiar names cropped up in the medal count for the 5-kilometre races. Connor Macdonald won gold in his age category, and Dominic Hilton took silver.

Winning bronze in their age categories were Teagan Nash, Lennox Turnham-Wheatley and Riley Watson.

The swim team returns to the Cayman Islands today.

Day three medallists

• Lennox Turnham-Wheatley, men’s 13-14 800-metre freestyle, bronze
• Connor Macdonald, men’s 15-17 800m freestyle, silver
• Harper Barrowman, women’s 15-17 400m freestyle, gold
• Jillian Crooks, women’s 15-17 50m freestyle, gold
• James Allison, men’s 15-17 50m freestyle, silver
• Riley Watson, women’s 13-14 200m backstroke, gold
• Sierrah Broadbelt, women’s 15-17 200m backstroke, silver
• Will Sellars, men’s 15-17 200m backstroke, bronze
• Men’s 11-12 200m freestyle relay, bronze
• Women’s 13-14 200m freestyle relay, bronze
• Women’s 15-17 200m freestyle relay, gold