Trinidad and Tobago completed their 2025 Carifta Aquatic Championships indoor campaign with 15 medals (nine gold, three silver and three bronze), inclusive of two more record-breaking performances, on the final night at the National Aquatic Centre in Balmain, Couva.
US-based swimmer and Olympian Zuri Ferguson completed a hat-trick of backstroke wins in the 15-17 girls 200m as she powered to gold in two minutes and 14.53 seconds (2:14.53).
In the process, she shaved over one second off her own, and Carifta’s previous record of 2:16.04, which was achieved at the 2024 edition in Bahamas. Coming in second were Jamaica’s Carolyn Levy-Powell (2:24.29) while Cayman Islander Riley Watson (2:27.51) came in third.
Later on, in-form swimmer Liam Carrington anchored TT’s 15-17 boys 200m freestyle relay team to another golden, record-breaking performance. Carrington, who swam the last leg, joined forces with compatriots Jaden Mills, Evan Gillard-Bruce and Zachary Anthony to clock 1:33.29 in the final.
Their performance wiped away last year’s Carifta record of 1:34.46, which was also set by TT’s Nikoli Blackman, Giovanni Rivas, Anthony and Zarek Wilson.
Jamaica took silver in 1:35.48 while St Lucia rounded the top three in 1:36.46.
Earlier, Carrington opened his final night of competition with another golden swim in the 400m free. He clocked 4:07.08 to clinch gold ahead of Aruban Inald Fernandes Perna (4:07.77) and Bermudan Thomas Cechini (4:07.78).
He also took top honours in the 50m free, in 22.75s. Countryman Gillard Bruce bagged silver in 23.22s while St Lucian Tristan Dorville held on to bronze in 23.48s.
Carrington also shone brightest in the 200m breast, eclipsing his opponents in 2:04.88, just shy of the 2:04.44 Carifta record.
Anthony, 17, also swam to victory in the 15-17 boys 800m freestyle in 8:40.75. He edged Cayman Islands’ Dominic Hilton (8:40.79) into second and USVI’s Daryan Maynard into third.
Thirteen-year old Ethan McMillan-Cole also capped off his Carifta campaign with gold in the 13-14 boys 100m breast, clocking 1:10.64. He bettered the Bahamian pair of Alexander Murray (1:11.10) and David Singh (1:11.26), second and third respectively.
Catherine Dieffenthaller was also in winner’s row in the 15-17 girls 100m breast. She clocked 1:14.28 with Antigua’s Ellie Shaw (1:14.62) and Bahamas’ Elysse Wood (1:17.01) completing the podium.
Talyor Marchan also showed mettle in the pool as she swam to victory in the 13-14 girls 200m backstroke, in 2:27.29. Curacao’s Gabrielle Johannes Maduro (2:32.09) and Bahamas’ Skyler Smith (2:33.78) were silver and bronze receivers respectively.
And in the 11-12 boys 200m freestyle relay, Khristian Allen, Dimitri Phillip, Julius Ennals and Elihu Brown combined for bronze, in 1:53.87. Persico, Breanna Belmar, Raegan Belmar and Asia-Marie Pouchet also teamed up to bag 13-14 girls 200m free relay bronze, in 1:52.88.
TT’s Zara Persico (4:46.22) and Marena Martinez (4:46.44) claimed silver and bronze respectively in the 13-14 girls 400m free, trailing eventual winner Reagan Uszenski (4:32.94) of USVI.
Zalayhar Lewis notched a podium spot as she earned silver (1:23.54) in the 11-12 girls 100m breaststroke. Bahamian Isabella Munroe (1:22.64) won gold while Bahamian Sienna Campbell (1:24.30) came in third.
TT finished second overall behind Bahamas, who swam to 74 overall – 27 gold, 23 silver and 24 bronze.
Trinidad and Tobago Newsday
