J’can swimmers continue plunder at Goodwill Swimming Champs
Jamaica’s team to the Goodwill Swimming Championships is poised to achieve the country’s highest-ever tally as they ended Saturday’s second day of action with a whopping 64 medals at the National Aquatic Centre in Couva, Trinidad and Tobago.
After copping 24 medals, including six meet records, two of which were in the girls’ 13-14 and girls’ 15-17 400m medley relays on Friday’s first day, Jamaica’s young sensations went to work on day two, clocking 40 medals — 14 gold, 19 silver, and seven bronze. That score took the overall tally to 23 gold, 29 silver, and 12 bronze.
The 25-member team is now just two medals shy of surpassing the island’s largest medal haul of 65 medals from 2019. They are easily expected to complete the historic feat as swimmers are down to contest 26 events on today’s final day of competiton.
Aliyah Heaven got day two’s record-breaking show under way in the girls’ 15-17 50m freestyle. She stopped the clock in 27.18s, lowering the previous mark of 27.74s set in 2012. Jada Latibeaudiere (27.52s) completed the one-two finish for Jamaica.
Female team Captain Giani Francis then followed suit in the girls’ 15-17 50m butterfly and stopped the clock in 29.36s. That time bettered the old mark of 30.51s. Heaven (30.16s) and Lia Forrester (30.34s) made it a Jamaican trifecta.
However, based on the meet summons, only the top two finishers from each time are awarded points and medals.
Still, Forrester returned to join forces with Latibeaudiere, Francis, and Heaven in clocking a new 15-17 400m freestyle relay record. The quartet touched in 4:14.19, just lowering the previous mark of 4:14.84 set in 2018.
On Friday’s opening day, Mikayla Brown displayed superb underwater technique on her way to a new meet record in the girls’ 13-14 50m breaststroke. She touched in 35.81s, erasing the previous time of 36.37s set by Valery Anstelveen in 2012. Another Jamaican, Loren-Ann Patterson (36.32s), was second.
The highly thought of Rianna Scott was also among the records in the girls’ 13-14 100m freestyle, stopping the clock in a time of 1:00.74. She erased the previous record of 1:01.46 set in 2011.
Meanwhile, Heaven was unstoppabled in the girls’ 15-17 100 metre freestyle. She stopped the clock 59.69s to erase the previous record of 1:00.83 set in 2017.
Forrester then posted 1:08.86 in the girls’ 15-17 100m backstroke, wiping out the old mark of 1:09.10.
— Sherdon Cowan
