HC Lass leads impressive B’dos effort in the pool

Team Barbados continue to let their presence be felt in home waters with an additional six medals at the Central American and Caribbean Amateur Swimming Confederation (CCCAN) currently taking place at the National Aquatic Centre in Wildey, St. Michael.

Last night on day three of the competition there were two new Barbados age group records set and young upcoming talent Jaiya Simmons led the way with her second gold medal of the competition.

Simmons touched the wall first in 1:00.59 to claim victory in the 11 to 12 Girls 100m freestyle which was also good enough to stamp her name in the history book as a new age group record holder.

A student of Harrison College and a member of Pirates Swim Club, Simmons also captured bronze in 33.03 seconds contesting the 50m backstroke of the 11 to 12 Girls event yesterday.

One Sunday night, Simmons also secured Barbados’ first gold medal of CCCAN in the 200m individual medley of the 11 to 12 age group. Simmons clocked a winning time of 2:32.53 for the top podium position.

Her name will be mentioned for years to come as Simmons also added a silver medal to her tally when she claimed second place (30.31 seconds) in the 50m butterfly.

It has so far been an incredible showing from Team Barbados and captain of the girl’s team Adara Stoddard also led by example as she not only won bronze but set a new national and age group record of 2:42.59 in the 200m backstroke for the 15 to 17 Division.

Stoddard, a 16-year-old student of the Christ Church Foundation School, erased her previous record time of 2:43.34 set this year at the Carifta Games held in April at the Barbados Aquatic Centre. In the 100m backstroke, Stoddard despite finishing fifth overall, managed to set a new Barbados record in 1:16.64.

There were a couple of bronze medal performances from Barbados as Zachary Burke of Dolphin Swim Club came third in the 11 to 12 Boys 50m backstroke in 31.87 seconds. Heidi Stoute of Pirates Swim Club was also outstanding and earned a bronze medal in the 100m freestyle for the Girls 11 to 12 age group in 1:01.03.

 

However, Stoute’s most memorable performance in the CCCAN competition has been her silver medal captured in 2:09.12 which is a new Barbados age group, and CCCAN record which stood since 1985.

Heidi swam 2:10.50 to break the record during the preliminaries and erased it once more in the final when she clocked 2:09.12 and surpassed the 2:12.72 set in December 2012 by fellow Barbadian Hannah Gill.

So far Barbados has had a good showing in the 11 to 12 age group as Amiya Harrison of Hightide Stingrays Swim Club earned a silver medal in 1:23.95 for the 100m breaststroke of the Girls 11 to 12 Division. Also in the same age group, Victor Ashby was good enough for the silver in 28.29 seconds in the boys’ 50m butterfly.

Birthday boy Tristan Pragnell also did Barbados proud with a bronze medal finish in the Boys’ 18 and over category. Pragnell clocked 27.28 seconds in the male 50m backstroke as he held his own competing against some of the world’s young aspiring talent. Pragnell picked up silver as well in the Boys 18 and over 200m freestyle clocking 1:55.03 for the second position.

In the relays, Barbados also did well in the 4x100m medley relay for the Girls 11 to 12 Division. The quartet of Toria Alleyne, Amiya Harrison, Jaiya Simmons, and Heidi Stoute clocked 4:59.06 for silver.

The quartet of Tariq Greenidge, Jaiya Simmons, Zachary Burke and Heidi Stoute also clocked 1:49.63 to claim silver in the 11-12 4x50m mixed relay.

The 11 to 12 Boys for Barbados also registered silver in 4:37.98 in the 4x100M medley relay thanks to the great effort of Tariq Greenidge, Zachary Burke, Victor Ashby and Brendan Gill.

Day four of the competition continued today at the National Aquatic Centre. (morissalindsay@barbadostoday.bb)