Campbell zooms in on sweep
KEVAUGHN Campbell snatched his second gold and Jamaica’s fifth last night at press time when he posted 34.54 seconds in the Boys’ 11-12 50m breaststroke on the third day of the Carifta Swimming Championships at the National Stadium Pool in Kingston.
Campbell outswam Bahamian Dionisio Carey (34.90) and Guadeloupian Che Sheldon Charlemag (35.99), adding to the 200m breastroke he won on the opening night of the championships Saturday.
This evening, the 12-year-old Campbell, who attends Wolmer’s Boys School, will hunt his third breaststroke gold when he lines up in the 100m.
Earlier, Jamaica’s Leanne McMaster timed 39.98 seconds to take the bronze in the Girls’ 11-12 50m breaststroke, won by Grenada’s Oreoluwa Cherebin, 38.39 seconds with Suriname’s Candis Pique second in 38.70 seconds.
Another Jamaican, Octavia Gray, fell just short of a medal in the Girls’ 13-14 50m breaststroke with a fourth place finish in a time of 35.91 seconds. Suriname’s Evita Leter won in a meet record 35.00 seconds, breaking the old mark of 34.04 set by McKayla Lightbourn of Bahamas in 2007.
Meanwhile, Jamaicans Kendese Nangle and Victoria Ho, after a strong start, faltered down to end to finish sixth and seventh, respectively, in the Girls’ 15-17 200m IM, won by Bahamian McKayla Lightbourn (2:23.05), Trinidad’s Samantha Rahael (2:23.61), and Guadeloupe’s Caroline Marinette (2:28.14).
In the Girls’ 13-14 200m IM, Danielle Boothe finished sixth in 2:38.33, as Barbadian Zabrina Holder won in 2:29.49, ahead of Aruba’s Daniella van den Berg (2:33.77), and another Barbadian Deandre Small (2:35.36).
Timothy Wynter has so far been Jamaica’s most successful swimmer with gold in the Boys’ 13-14 50m backstroke and 50m butterfly, and silver in the 100m backstroke.
At press time, Trinidad & Tobago lead the medal tally with 33 gold, 18 silver, and 10 bronze; followed by Barbados, 10 gold, 15 silver, 5 bronze; Bahamas 6 gold, 9 silver, 10 bronze; Jamaica have five gold, three silver, and six bronze medals; and Guadeloupe, 4 gold, 11 silver, and 12 bronze medals.