The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas can once again proudly claim the top junior swimming programme in the region.

The 36-member team won back-to-back CARIFTA Swimming Championships and their fourth title in five years as the curtain closed on the competition at the National Aquatic Centre in Kingston, Jamaica, last night.

The team completed the four-day meet with a total of 789 points. They finished 181 points ahead of second place finisher and 2016 champion Guadeloupe, who scored 608. Jamaica finished third with 607.5 points, Trinidad and Tobago scored 576 and the Cayman Islands rounded out the top five with 502.5 points.

The Bahamas won a total of 56 medals – 23 gold, 22 silver and 11 bronze.

The high-point scorer for Team Bahamas among girls was Lilly Higgs with 51 points in the 15-17 division while Zaylie-Elizabeth Thompson posted 37 points in the 13-14 division.

Among the boys, it was Lamar Taylor leading the way with 68 points in the 13-14, Nigel Forbes with 64 points in the 11-12 and Izaak Bastian with 45 points in the 15-17 division.

On the final night of competition, the Bahamas added 13 medals to their final total.

Lamar Taylor continued his dominance in the Boys 13-14 division with a gold medal in the 50m Free to begin the title run in the final session. He won in a time of 24.27 seconds and Roman Pinder would also take bronze in 25.55.

Izaak Bastian added another gold medal in the Boys 15-17 race in 23.25. Bastian also returned to later win his second gold medal of the night in the 100m Breast in 1:03.12.

In the 100m Breast, Nigel Forbes took gold in the Boys 11-12 race in 1:15.81.

The team also secured a pair of medals in the Girls 13-14 with Zaylie-Elizabeth Thompson’s silver in 1:20.04 and Jamilah Hepburn won bronze in 1:20.06.

Erald Thompson III won bronze in the Boys 13-14 in 1:11.53.

The Bahamas took the top two spots on the medal podium with a gold medal from Lily Higgs in 1:12.65 secs and Victoria Russell took silver in 1:14.87 secs.

Peter Morley won the sole medal for team Bahamas in the 200m Back with his silver in the Boys 15-17 division a time of 2:13.27 secs.

The competition closed out the competition with a pair of medals in the 200m Free Relay. A strong Boys 13-14 division capped their meet with a silver medal in 1:42.89 secs while the Boys 15-17 team won gold in 1:36.86 secs.

In 2014, the Bahamas topped the standings for the first time in Savaneta, Aruba. The 36-member team finished with a total of 736.50 points

In 2015, the Bahamas won the meet again with a total of 756.50 points, more than 100 points ahead of the host team Barbados, who was second with 642.50 points.

In 2016 event in Fort-de-France, Martinique, the Bahamas finished in second place, just 21.5 points behind Guadeloupe.

The Bahamas reclaimed the title at home last year at the Betty Kelly-Kenning Aquatic Centre with a total of 799.5 points. They finished 137.5 points ahead of Guadeloupe, who scored 662.