PRESIDENT of the Amateur Swimming Association of Jamaica (ASAJ), John Eyre, had praised the national representatives for their performances at the Caribbean Islands Swimming Championships in Havana, Cuba from June 26 to July 2.

The successes at the meet was a huge boost for the ASAJ as swimmers continue to prepare for the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games to be held in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, later this month.

Speaking yesterday at a press meeting at the National Stadium Pool, Eyre said Jamaica’s fifth-placed finish was an “excellent” result given the lack of depth”.

“I think overall we were excellent. The country has excellent swimmers, but what we would want is a deeper team. Though we have about the same number of participants, we now have less depth than we had 10 years ago in terms of persons competing in one event,” he told the Observer.

“We have been working with the GC Foster College to get a coach’s education programme going to help the sport and we want to get more youngsters in our programmes,” he added.

Jamaica’s 33-member team captured 26 medals — three gold, 12 silver and 11 bronze — to finish on 353 points.

Trinidad and Tobago were overall winners with 1,301 points, while Cuba (1,276) finished second, Bahamas (578) took third, and Barbados (476) sealed fourth spot.

Kevaughn Campbell won all three gold medals for Jamaica in the 11-12 age group for boys, including national and meet records in the 50 metre breaststroke (33.43 sec) and the 100 metre equivalent (1:12.89 min).

The 12 year old then capped off a remarkable meet, timing 2:44.56 min to snatch his third gold in the 200 metre breaststroke.

Also impressive was Dominic Walter, who in the 15-17 age group category smashed national senior records in the 1500 metre (16:40.15) and 400 metre (4:11.31 min) freestyle events to place second and third, respectively.

Walter won two more silver medals in the marathon 5K open water event and the 200 metre butterfly in respective times of 1:04:05.33 hour and 2:13.42 min. He also clocked 4:54.68 in the 400 metre individual medley to secure another bronze medal.

Timothy Wynter won four silver medals in the 50 metre, 100 metre and 200 metre backstroke events, as well as in the 100 metre butterfly in the 13-14 boys age group. Wynter was also a member of the 4×100 metre medley relay team, which included Antoine Young, Sidrell Williams and Jason Craig, which placed third in the 13-14 age group.

The female team, headed by Kendese Nangle in the 15-17 and Priscilla McClure in the 13-14 categories, also turned in top showings to help Jamaica pass their 16-medal haul in 2006.

Nangle came second in the 100 metre and 200 metre backstroke events with respective times of 1:06.93 min and 2:28.98 min. The 15 year-old was third in the 50 metre butterfly with 29.62 sec, while she claimed bronze in 1:09.02 in the 100-metre butterfly.

In the 13-14 age group, McClure placed second in the 100 and 200 metre breaststroke with respective times of 1:18.50 min and 2:52.49 min, while she came third in the 50-metre equivalent in 36.48 sec. She also secured the bronze medal in the 200-metre butterfly in 2:35.10 min.

Victoria Ho, with two silver and one bronze medal, and Alexia Royal- Eatmon with a bronze in the 15-17, along with Ivana Chang’s two bronze in the 11-12 category, rounded off the medal haul for Jamaica.