Debutant, USA-based Gabriela Donahue led the way with two more gold medals as T&T won five gold, three silver and a bronze on the final night of competition at the 2015 Central American and Caribbean Nation Swimming Championship at the National Aquatic Centre, Wildey, Christ Church, Barbados on Saturday.
In addition to Donahue, Kael Yorke, Amira Pilgrim and the boys 18 & Over quartet of Strasser Sankar and the Mc Leod brothers, David, Joshua and Abraham all added gold medals as T&T ended as the top medal winners with 42 (27 gold, 13 silver, two bronze), just ahead of points champions Puerto Rico which collected a joint best of 61 medals with fourth placed medal winners Costa Rica.
However, both won less gold than T&T, with Puerto Rico claiming 25 gold, 20 silver and 16 bronze and Costa Rica, 13 gold, 18 silver and 30 bronze.
Barbados was third with 53 medals, 19 gold, 18 silver and 16 bronze.
On the points table, Puerto Rico led from start to finish for 878.33 points followed by Costa Rica (768), Barbados (574), Honduras (488) and T&T with 464.83.
Donahue won the 11-12 girls 200m individual medley in two minutes, 31.81 seconds, well ahead of Barbadian duo, Danielle Titus (2:35.79) and Ashley Weekes (2:36.13).
She also captured precious gold in the 100m freestyle in one minute, 01.64 for her eighth individual gold medal of the five-day championship, while Titus was second in 1:02.36 and Costa Rican Sofia Di Bartolo, third, in one minute, 02.94.
Kael Yorke outclassed his rivals in the 13-14 boys 50m butterfly in 26.02, just a shave ahead of team-mate Jeron Thompson (26.03) while Suriname’s Yael Touw Ngie Tjouw got bronze in 26.79.
Amira Pilgrim added gold in the 15-17 girls 50m butterfly in 29.94 to beat Costa Rica’s Ana Luisa Torres (30.76) and Honduran Julimar Avila (30.83) into second and third respectively.
And the quartet of Strasser Sankar, and Mc Leod brothers, David (18), Abraham (22) and Joshua (24) combined for gold in the 18 & Over boys 400m freestyle relay in three minutes, 33.35, clear of Panama (3:38.63) and Dominican Republic (3:41.08) which were second and third respectively.
Racine Ross, Mc Leod (J) and Aqeel Joseph added silver medals for T&T while Pilgrim also picked up a bronze medal.
Ross had to settle for silver in the 13-14 girls 50m butterfly in 29.48, a finger-tip behind Aruban Keeley Maduro (29.46) while Antigua and Barbuda’s Samantha Roberts (29.65).
Mc Leod (J) touched the wall in 25.05 behind Jamaican Justin Plaschka (24.89) in the 18 & Over boys 50m butterfly with Honduran Allan Guitierrez, third in 25.49 while Joseph clocked 28.96 for second in the 11-12 boys 50m butterfly behind Puerto Rican Jeremy Medina (28.81) while USVI’s Ky Odlum was third in 29.34.
Yesterday was the start of the Open Water events with T&T being represented by a seven-member team minus Carifta champions Christian Marsden who is preparing for next month’s Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada.
Final Table
Country G S B Total
T&T 27 13 2 42
Puerto Rico 25 20 16 61
Barbados 19 18 16 53
Costa Rica 13 18 30 61
Panama 11 16 4 31
Honduras 9 7 21 37
Dominican Republic 9 7 21 37
Suriname 7 9 4 20
Aruba 6 13 3 22
Curacao 6 2 0 8
Jamaica 3 1 1 5
Bermuda 3 1 0 4
USVI 2 3 5 10
St Lucia 1 5 6 12
Antigua & Barbuda 1 4 2 7
Grenada 1 0 2 3
Points table
Puerto Rico – 878.33
Costa Rica – 768
Barbados – 574
Honduras – 488
T&T – 464.83
Panama – 394.5
Dominican Republic – 334
Aruba – 290
Suriname – 229.5
St Lucia – 150
Curacao – 101
Antigua & Barbuda – 88
Jamaica – 54.5
Grenada – 52.83
Bermuda – 46