The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas' 20-member team to this year's CARIFTA Triathlon and Aquathlon returned home from Kingston, Jamaica, with four medals and a tied fifth-place finish with Aruba.

The team, coached by brothers Dorian and Cameron Roach, got a silver medal from Aydan Bain and bronze from Erin Pritchard and Anjaleah Knowles. Bain also got a medal for a fifth place finish.

Their performances helped the team to accumulate a total of 11 points - the same amount as Aruba. Guadeloupe topped the nine-country chart with 64, followed by Barbados with 51, Trinidad & Tobago with 37 and Bermuda with 31.

Host Jamaica completed the table with just one point, one less than Antigua & Barbuda. The US Virgin Islands came in just behind the Bahamas and Aruba with eight points.

"I was very pleased with the team performance. For us to finish tied for fifth was awesome after we came last last year and we didn't score any points," said Dorian Roach, who also serves as the president of the Bahamas Triathlon Association.

"We didn't get any podium last year and while there were only six events, we got on the podium in four of those events. So that was pretty inspiring."

Roach admitted that the competition continues to escalate as the tournament now completed its third year of existence.

"All of the other countries were happy and pleased with our performances," he said.

"We got a lot of compliments from them. The technical official from Switzerland also complimented us and the president of the International Triathlon Union was also at the meet and she was a member of the International Olympic Committee and she also was impressed with our performances."

Female 11-12 - On day one, the Bahamas got its best individual performance from Erin Pritchard as she captured the bronze medal, completing her triathlon in a time of 23:04.4.

Her swim was done in 4:10.5, the bike run in 10:38.3 and the run in 5:48.4.

Ruth-Ea Balon of Guadeloupe won the title in 22:37.9 with Barbados' Heidi Baker taking the silver in 22:58.8.

Four other competitors competed in her division with Anjaleah Knowles coming in 6th in 24:14.5 (4:04.1 - swim, 11:22.8 - bike and 6:09.0 - run); Sennen Fitzmaurice 8th in 25:16.1 (4:23.3 - swim), 11:37 - bike) and (6:25.1 - run); Adriel Pratt 11th in 26:20.1 (4:17.9 - swim, 12:25.9 - bike) and (6:27.6 - run) and Taliyah Bowe 12th in 26:27.0 (4:08.4 - swim), 12:36.1 - bike) and 6:29.9 (run).

Female 13-15 - Guadeloupe's Alyzee Dinane captured the gold in 39:24.0 with the silver going to Zoe Hasselkuss of Bermuda in 40:44.4. Her compatriot Jasmin Hasselkuss got the bronze in 41:03.6.

The Bahamas had four competitors who completed the bottom of the table.

Kaitlyn Williams was 15th in 49:04.4 (7:42.1 - swim, 23:33.7 - bike) and 15:19.2 - run); Philena Styles 16th in 49:04.6 (7:47.0 - swim, 23:26.7 - bike and 15:19.9 - run); Kami Roach 18th in 51:57.3 (9:01.2 - swim, 23:13.6 - bike and 17:06.0 - run) and Sienna Culmer-Mackey 21st in 53:16.0 (7:51.3 - swim, 25:47.4 - bike and 16:53.7 - run).

Male 11-12 - Barbados captured both the gold and silver from Luke McIntyre (20:01.5) and Asher Lashley (20:20.3), while Christiaan Jansen of Aruba was the bronze medallist in 20:21.6. Ayden Bain had the best performance of five Bahamian competitors when he was awarded a medal for his fifth place in 20:46.9 (swimming 3:40.6, biking 10:07.7 and running 4:50.2).

Malcolm Menzies was 10th in 21:58.5 (4:05.7 - swim, 10:05.2 - bike and 5:27.3 - run); Jordan Cheetham 16th in 24:20.4 (3:42.1 - swim, 11:37.4 - bike and 6:12.9 - run) and Enea Gervasni 18th in 24:25.0 (4:24.4 - swim), 11:05.4 - bike and 6:31.7 - run).

Male 13-15 - US Virgin Islands' Michael Dizon-Bumann captured the gold in 35:40.7 with Trinidad & Tobago taking the silver and bronze by Matthew Wortman in 36:42.4 and James Castagne Hay in 36:45.1 respectively.

Two competitors represented the Bahamas with Akeil Smith finishing 18th in 43:15.6 (swimming 8:15.2, biking 21:29.6 and running 11:19.4), while Jason Cates was 20th in 44:45.8 (8:26.4 in swim, 21:19.0 in bike and 12:13.3 in run).

Aquathlon

Female 16-19 - Chrismaldy Robert of Guadeloupe won the event in 40:06.4, followed by Ashley Weekes of Barbados in 40:08.8 and Chloe Traventhal of Guadeloupe taking third in 41:51.4.

Kathleen O'Brien, the lone Bahamian representative, was 11th in 58:10.8.

Male 16-19 - Troy Llanos of Trinidad & Tobago took the top spot in 36:01.0. Niel Skinner of Barbados got second in 36:12.0 and Giannon Eights of Aruba was third in 36:17.5.

Ralph Wood came in seventh in 37:58.5 (15:47.2 - swim and 20:38.1 - run); Joshua Murray was 12th in 39:18.3 (15:21.3 - swim and 22:21.8 - run) and Tristan Rampersad was 16th in 46:23.4 (21:47.4 - swim and 22:58.8 - run).

Day two was geared mainly for the Aquathlon.

Female 11-12 - Anjaleah Knowles won the bronze in 12:07.9. The gold went to Heidi Baker of Barbados in 11:36.1 and Ruth-Ea Balon of Guadeloupe picked up the silver in 11:54.2.

Erin Pritchard came in 6th in 12:52.9; Taliyah Bowe was 8th in 13:28.6; Adriel Pratt 9th in 13:45.6 and Sennen Fitzmaurice 11th in 14:00.4.

Female 13-15 - Alyzee Dinane of Guadeloupe won the gold in 21:06.6 with Daria Desmond of Bermuda getting the silver in 21:20.8 over her team-mate Jasmin Hasselkuss with the bronze in 21:27.1.

Kaitlyn Williams was 16th in 24:07.8; Philena Styles was 27th in 24:19.5 and Sienna Culmer-Mackey 20th in 25:07.6.

Male 11-12 - Ayden Bain won his silver medal in 10:45.4. Barbados' Luke McIntyre won the gold in 10:36.7 and Bryan Bigord of Guadeloupe was the bronze medallist in 10:50.2.

Livingstone Duncombe also represented the Bahamas, placing 12th in 11:54.2 with Malcolm Menzies 1th in 12:24.4; Jordan Cheetham coming in 17th in 12:27.4 and Enea Gervasini 22nd in 13:27.0.

Male 13-15 - Tommy Marshall of Bermuda won the gold in 18:38.2, Axel Songo of Guadeloupe got the silver in 19:09.0 and her team-mate Lilian Boucher the bronze in 19:18.9.

Akeil Smith, one of two Bahamians in the event, was 14th in 21:38.3 and Jason Cates, the other member, was 23rd in 23:07.2.

Triathlon

Male 16-19 - Troy Llanos of Trinidad &* Tobago emerged as the gold medallist in 35.19.3. Giannon Eights of Aruba got the silver in 35:27.8 and Alexander Pilgrim of Bermuda took the bronze in 35:55.9.

Ralph Wood, one of three Bahamian competitors, was 10th in 38:39.1; Joshua Murray was 13th in 41:23.9 and Tristan Rampersad was 17th in 46:06.5.

Back home from the competition, Roach said most of the competitors will now prepare for the Conchman Triathlon that is all set to be held in Grand Bahama in November.

Roach also noted that while he was in Lima, Peru, for the Pan American Games, he was advised on how to build a developmental programme that will allow them to apply for some international grants to further enhance the sport here.

And there are also some plans to stage one or two continental competitions in the near future to ensure that the local competitors stay competitive on the international scene.