The curtains recently came down on the Amateur Swimming Association of Trinidad and Tobago (ASATT) Invitational Championship, where Jamaica’s young prospects excelled once again.

A record 59-medal haul comprising 16 gold, 22 silver and 21 bronze speaks volumes of Jamaica’s consistent improvement over the years, since first venturing to the four-day meet in 2010 with a handful of swimmers.

The 26-member team to this year’s 38th staging set the National Aquatic Centre in Couva alight with one scintillating performance after another, as they easily surpassed the previous best haul of 19 medals established by an eight-member team last year.

Of the five Jamaican clubs represented, three — Y-Speedos, Kaizen and Marlins Swim Club — secured spots in the top 20 on a list of the over 30 clubs that were on show from countries such as St Lucia, Barbados, Guyana, Grenada, and the host country.

Y-Speedos, which fielded 15 swimmers, was highest ranked in sixth position with 393.5 points. The four-member Marlins finished 12th with 137 points, while the recently formed Kaizen Swim Club ended 14th with 119 points.

Swimaz Aquatics and Sailfish Academy, the next two Jamaican clubs, finished with a point each at the highly competitive and now staple year-end event for the country’s young swimmers.

Georgia Sinclair, vice-president of swimming in the Aquatic Sports Association of Jamaica (ASAJ) and manager of the Y-Speedos team, could barely contain her excitement at the accomplishments.

“I am delighted that a number of our swimmers recorded personal best times and have made the Carifta cut of AA,” she said.

One of Jamaica’s highlight performances came on the final evening of competition when the Marlins 9-10 quartet of Saidah Brown, Kokolo Foster, Giani Francis and Christanya Shirley, on debut, set a new national age-group record of 2:05.52 in the 200-metre freestyle relay.

That was one of the club’s 13 medal won, with Shirley accounting for four (one gold, two silver and one bronze); Brown three bronze and Foster; two silver and two bronze. The other came when they topped the field in the 200m medley relay.

The Rory Alvaranga-coached Kaizen saw Zaneta Alvaranga (five gold, three silver and one bronze) accounting for their nine medals.

Meanwhile, Jamaica’s most successful club of the meet ,Y-Speedos, accounted for a whopping 38 medals, with Kyle Sinclair (two gold, four silver and four bronze) and Naomi Eaton (three gold, four silver, two bronze) leading the way.

Karci Gibson (one gold, five silver and one bronze) and Akeem Alleyne (two gold, one silver, and one bronze) were next on the list, followed by Jordane Payne and Sage Sinclair, who ended with two bronze each.

Zachary Randle and Chester Adams ended with one silver medal each, while Jevaun Jackson and Saamanta Selvon ended with one bronze medal.

At the end of the meet, Alvaranga and Kyle Sinclair placed first overall in the 11-12 and 13-14 category for girls and boys respectively. Gibson and Eaton were second and third, respectively, in the girls’ 13-14 category, while Shirley placed in the girls’ 9-10 division.

– Sherdon Cowan