JAMAICA’S CARIFTA team member Kendese Nangle, swimming in the Speedos Champion championship this weekend, swam a personal best 1:6.76 to qualify for the 2010 Youth Olympics, with a B Cut, and the evenings A Finals at the Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Complex recently.

Nangle, who has been Jamaica’s top female backstroke

swimmer since Janelle Atkinson, set the existing national record of 1:06.37 at the Pan American Games in 2003.

The Youth Olympic B Cut time is 1:06.76, while the A Cut is 1:03.86.

With faster times expected in the finals of the meet, Nangle will on the final night have her sights set on the national record and Lydia Gordon’s 15-17 national age-group mark of 1:06.51.

Nangle has the seventh fastest time going into the meet’s A Final with Mexico’s Ramire Gonzalez the top seed after she swam a fast 1:04.48 in the preliminary heats.

Jamaica’s Alexia Royal Eatmon and Victoria Ho also swam in the same event, with both swimmers qualifying for the C Final.

Ho had the 28th fastest time in the prelims swimming 1:10.53, while Royal-Eatmon swam 1:10.58. Both are members of Jamaica’s 2010 CARIFTA swim team.

ASAJ president John Eyre congratulated Nangle, noting that her performance bodes well for Jamaica with the CARIFTA Swimming Championships set to start at the National Stadium Pool in just two weeks’ time.

Following Nangle’s Youth Olympics qualifying swim earlier in the morning, Ho — who swam for the Lake Lytal Light Club — swam a personal best 28.28 to qualify for the Speedo’s meet C Finals.

Leading the swimmers into the final was Abbie King (Area Tallahassee), who swam 26.60.

Nangle could not repeat her earlier success and failed to make the final when she swam 28.52 to finish 43rd, 0.56 seconds off per PB time.

Siona Huxley, of Trinidad and Tobago, a contender to watch in the CARIFTA Games, also qualified for the Youth Olympics when she qualified for the 50m Back stroke in time of 29.98 at the ASATT Invitational Meet in Trinidad.