Cayman takes second overall at CARIFTA Swimming Championships
The Cayman Islands hauled in 53 medals to finish second overall on the high point board at the 36th annual CARIFTA Swimming Championships in Curaçao, the best score Cayman ever recorded. Over the course of four days, the swimmers collected 25 gold medals and broke several records.
Day 1
Team Cayman finished day one, on Thursday, 6 April, at the Sentro Deportivo Korsou centre in Curaçao with notable performances coming from Lila Higgo, Harper Barrowman, Jillian Crooks, and Sierrah Broadbelt, who took to the pool and completely blew their opposition out of the water.
Higgo, 15, and Crooks, 16, looked unstoppable in the 15-17 age group. The pair competed in the 50-metre backstroke where Higgo took gold in 29.51 seconds, ahead of Crooks who clocked 29.65.
The Cayman duo would again claim the two top spots, this time in the 100m butterfly, where Crooks bested Higgo for first in 1:02.67. The pair competed in the 4x100m freestyle relay finals, along with Barrowman and Sofia Bonati, winning gold in 3:57.63.
Cayman’s 2023 high point champions
13-14 AGE GROUP
1st – Sierrah Broadbelt: 78 Points
15-17 AGE GROUP
1st – Lila Higgo: 62 Points
2nd – Jillian Crooks: 52 Points
3rd – Harper Barrowman: 45 Points
Prior to anchoring the relay, Barrowman won gold in the 800m freestyle. Teammate Broadbelt also claimed two gold medals for Cayman in the 13-14 age group. She also won the 50m back and 100m butterfly.
Also securing medals for Cayman was Riley Watson, who took bronze in the 800m free, while in the age 11-12 boys Lev Fahy took bronze in the 50m back, clocking 32.09 seconds. Fahy went on to help win silver in the 4×100 free with teammates Gabriel Bispath, Eli Bain and Chase Watson.
Day 2
Crooks returned on Friday, 7 April, to win the 50m butterfly finals in 27.82. She then won gold in the 100m backstroke in 1:03.00. Higgo finished only 0.7 seconds behind Crooks to earn silver. Following that, Higgo finished her day with the 400m individual medley, where she took gold in 5:17.99.
Broadbelt also left a gap between herself and the rest of the field during her 13-14 age group individual medley, winning gold in 5:19.97. In addition, she secured golds in the 50m butterfly in 29.25 seconds, and in the 100m backstroke, in 1:08.56.
Barrowman, James Allison and Will Sellars did their part in winning silverware for Cayman on day two. Barrowman won gold in the 200m freestyle and Allison followed that up with a silver in the same event for the boys’ group.
In the 15-17 back, Sellars swam to silver in 1:00.52, a new personal best. In the boys 15-17 400m individual medley, Dominic Hilton, after falling behind for the first 200 metres came back to capture silver.
For the 11-12 back finals, Fahy took bronze, while Cassidy Coles swam to bronze in the 11-12-year-old 400m individual medley.
Day 3
The medals for team Cayman Islands continued to roll in on day three. On Saturday, 8 April, Barrowman took gold in the 15-17 1,500m free in 17:50.69. Riley Watson won bronze in the 13-14 age group for that event.
Broadbelt and Higgo then returned to their respective age groups to win gold again, this time in the 200m IM. Broadbelt went on to claim gold in the 200m butterfly, and Higgo took silver in the 50m breaststroke in a new personal best time of 32.98 seconds.
Coles won bronze in the 11–12 200m fly final, while Teagan Nash nabbed gold ahead of teammate Allyson Belfonte, who took bronze in the 15-17 race. Crooks took gold during the 100m free, in 56.44.
For boys 15-17, James Allison brought home silver in the 100m free. For the 800m free relay, Barrowman, joined by teammates Bonati, Higgo and Nash, dominated in their gold-medal-winning effort.
The boys closed the show with Allison, joined by Connor Macdonald, Dominic Hilton and Sellars, all helping to win bronze in the 800m free.
Day 4
Crooks, 16, swam 26.08 seconds in the 50m freestyle sprint finals on Sunday, 9 April to win gold. Higgo kept the medal tally rising for Cayman, winning gold in the 200m back final. Will Sellars and Lev Fahy collected silver and bronze medals, respectively, in their age groups for the 200m back.
CARIFTA records
Jillian Crooks
Event: 50m fly Time: 27.82
Event: 100m back Time: 1:03.00
Event: 100m free Time: 56.44
Event: 50m free Time: 26.08
Lila Higgo
Event: 50m back Time:: 29.51
Higgo, Crooks, Sofia Bonati and Harper Barrowman
Event: 4x100m free relay Time: 3:57.63
In the 13-14 girls 4×50 relay, Broadbelt, Watson, Eva Oldfield and Reagan Lisle initially took fourth, but a disqualification gave the bronze medal to them.
Crooks, Barrowman, Higgo and Bonati, who assembled on day one for the 4x100m, returned for the 4×50m free. The team fulfilled expectations, taking gold in 1:48.62.
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