Wynter claims gold in dead-heat drama

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC):Dylan Carter struck gold twice, including a dead-heat, to anchor defending champions Trinidad & Tobago to the top of the medal standings, after the opening day of the CARIFTA Swimming Championships on Saturday.

Carter and Timothy Wynter of Jamaica gave evidence that they will be the ones to watch in the 13-14 boys age group, when they dead-heated in the 50 metres backstroke.

The two established a new record of 27.76 seconds - taking a shade over 2.5 seconds off Wynter's previous CARIFTA record set two years ago in Aruba. Dionisio Carey of The Bahamas finished third in 29.20.

Carter however, made life much easier for timekeepers, when he lowered his own record in the 100m butterfly to 58.10.

He finished a little more than five seconds two years ago in Aruba, leaving to settle for second in 59.27 and Guadeloupe's Anthony Rechal to hold third in 1:02.59.

Entered the record books

Three other swimmers entered the record books on the first day at the National Aquatic Centre.

Dustin Tyne gave The Bahamas one of their four gold medals, when he clocked two minutes, 27.25 seconds in the 13-14 boys 200 breaststroke.

To add insult to injury, the previous record holder, Jordy Groters, of Aruba, finished in 2:30.51 and was only good enough for second, ahead of T&T''s Jeron O'Brien with a time of 2:35.45.

Siona Huxley gave St. Lucia their only medal, when she scratched four hundredths of a second off the 50-metre backstroke record for the 15-17 girls, with a time of 30.49.

She too, added insult to injury, finishing ahead of the previous record holder, Kimberley John-Williams of T&T, whose time was 30.73, and Kendese Nangle of Jamaica with 31.07.

John-Williams had her name erased from the record books for a second time, when compatriot Kristin Julien clocked 30.57 in the 13-14 girls 50 backstroke, knocking just over a second off the old mark. She finished ahead of the Barbadian duo of Inayah Sherry (32.40) and Deandre Small (32.95).

There was also a rare gold medal for Guyana, when Jessica Stephenson upset the 15-17 girls 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:43.32, touching the pads ahead of Breanna Roman of Jamaica (2:45.89) and Rejan Chin of T&T (2:46.73).

Medal standings after Saturday's opening day of the CARIFTA Swimming Championships.

Teams G S B Total

T&T 4 6 4 14

Barbados 4 4 3 11

Bahamas 4 3 3 10

Martinique 4 0 2 6

Guadeloupe 3 6 4 13

Suriname 3 1 1 5

Jamaica 2 4 3 9

Aruba 1 3 2 6

N Antilles 1 1 1 3

Cayman Is  1 0 1 2

Guyana 1 0 0 1

St Lucia 1 0 0 1

Grenada 0 0 1 1