A fter two days of competition, Jamaica sat in the top five on the medal table at the 2024 Carifta Aquatics Championships in the Bahamas. The 28-member team, with 15 girls and 13 boys, collected 19 medals which consist of five gold, six silver and eight bronze. Host Bahamas lead the standings with 45 medals with Trinidad and Tobago, Cayman Islands and Barbados rounding out the top four.

American-born Skyelar Richards got Jamaica on the board on day one, winning the 50m backstroke the Girls’ 13-14 category with a time of 31.57 seconds. Sabrina Lynn also claimed gold, clocking a personal best 1:00.92 minutes to win the Girls’ 18 and over 100m butterfly. The girls also saw further success with Leanna Wainwright finishing second in the 15-17 50m backstroke and Kia Alert taking bronze in the 11-12 200m breaststroke.

Kai Radcliffe’s silver in the 13-14 200m breaststroke, Malcolm McKenzie’s bronze in the 15-17 50m backstroke and Arush Rochlani’s bronze in the 13-14 100m butterfly were among the medallists for the boys on day one.

Jamaica also secured three relay medals with the Girls’ and Boys’ 13-14 4x100m freestyle teams picking up silver medals while the Boys’ 15-17 4x100m freestyle team breaking the six-year national age group record to claim bronze in 3:37.72.

On day two, Alert added to her tally as she won gold in the 50m butterfly in a personal best 30.75s with teammate Richards finishing with the bronze and Lynn taking silver in the 18 and over category. Richards returned later to win the bronze in the 13-14 100m backstroke and Wainwright also copped bronze in the 15-17 category. Lynn won her second medal of the championships with silver in the 50m butterfly.

The boys won their first gold medal through Noland Barrett who took the 13-14 200m freestyle event, while teammate Matthew Kennedy finished third. The 13-14 400m medley relay team also secured a podium finish, narrowly finishing second behind Trinidad and Tobago.