Joshua Roberts became the first swimmer to qualify for the CARIFTA Swimming Championships, in the 400 meters (m) freestyle event for boys 11-12, this year. He dipped under the qualifying standard of 5:08.49, touching the wall in 5:05.07, at the annual Barracuda Swim Club meet, held on Friday and Saturday at the Betty Kelly-Kenning National Swim Complex. Samuel Gibson was second in that race, in 5:44.89 and Tyler Russell finished third in 5:53.65. Roberts also qualified in the 100m freestyle event, turning in a time of 1:04.82 for the win over Gibson and Paul Bevans.
Winning the 400m freestyle for girls in the 11-12 division was Amber Pinder in 5:49.84. Tenniya Martin touched the wall in 5:49.96 and Virginia Stamp finished in 6:02.48. The winning time in the event for girls 13-14 was 5:21.06 turned in by Tremaine Allen of the Swift Swimming Club. Jasmine Gibson's time of 5:33.84 gave her second and Tristen Thompson's time of 7:04.43 placed her third. In the boys 13-14 division, Alec Sands got the edge over Tyrique Cox who swam 5:18.42. Sands' time was 5:10.60 and Cameron Riley touched the wall in 5:37.24. Opening up the season with a win was Farion Cooper, who competed in the boys' 15-and-over division in the 400m freestyle event.
Cooper out-swam Sashuan Armbrister and Utoy Wong for the top honor in that division. His time was 5:01.78. Simone Sturrup was the sole swimmer in the girls' 13-14 division, in the 200m butterfly. She needed to stop the clock at, or below 2:51.79 to qualify for the CARIFTA championships in that event. Her time was 3:00.52. Over in the 11-12 boys' division for the 200m butterfly event, Paul Bevans swam 3:33.54 for the win over TeAngelo Bain who clocked 4:32.99. Kohen Kerr won the event for boys 15-and-over in 2:39.31. Dipping below the qualifying standard for the CARIFTA Swimming Championships, in the 100m breaststroke for boys 15-and-over, was Michael McIntosh. His time was 1:10.56.
The qualifying time is set at 1:15.99. Just shy of making the mark was Brandon Deveaux and Anibal Hernandez Valdes who swam times of 1:22.27 and 1:22.83 respectively. Doran Reed touched the wall in 1:04.16 for the win in the 100m freestyle event for girls 15-and-over. Reed's time is also below the CARIFTA Swimming Championships qualifying mark. Joining Reed, in achieving qualification for the championships, were Keith Lloyd and N'Nhyn Fernander. Lloyd's mark was turned in, in the boys 15-and-over 100m freestyle, and Fernander's qualifying time came in the event for boys 13-14.
The winning time in the boys 15-and-over division was 58.65 seconds, and 1:02.43 was the winning time in the 13-14 division. Fernander touched the wall in 29.38 seconds for the win, and a qualifying time in the 50m butterfly. The fastest time in the boys 15-and-over division, in the 50m breaststroke, was turned in by McIntosh. That time of 31.52 seconds qualified McIntosh for the CARIFTA Swimming Championships. Celia Campbell also dipped under the qualifying time in the 100m backstroke for 11-12 girls. Campbell opened up the 2013 season with a time of 1:16.02, while Gershwin Greene touched the wall in 1:09.65, for the win in the event for boys 13-14.
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