DESPITE FOUR medals and a valiant attempt, Jamaica failed in its last-ditch attempt to steal fifth place from the Netherlands Antilles on the final night of the Caribbean Island Swimming Championships in Puerto Rico on Friday.
The four medals on the night, added to their bronze medal in the synchronised swimming event, took Jamaica's tally up to 25, an incredible feat given the reduction in the size of their team this year.
SIX GOLD, EIGHT SILVER
In total, Jamaica ended the championships with six gold, eight silver, and 11 bronze medals.
Puerto Rico, as was expected, went on to win the title with 1498.5 points and were followed by Trinidad and Tobago, who held their second-place position throughout the championships with 884 points.
The Bahamas clocked in at third place with 681 points, with the Dominican Republic, who at one stage trailed Jamaica, getting to fourth place with 453 points.
The Netherlands Antilles
finished with 334 points, to lead Jamaica, who ended with 295.5.
Barbados (214), Suriname (212), Aruba (184.5), U.S. Virgin Islands (128), St. Lucia (96), and Grenada (87) rounded out the last six positions.
On the final night of activities, Brad Hamilton was again the day's best performer, as he grabbed two silver medals to leave his tally at two gold, five silver and a bronze.
Hamilton opened his account in the 15-17 100-metre breaststroke, finishing behind the Netherlands Antilles' Rodion Davelaar (1:09.40) in a time of 1:09.92 seconds and ahead of Puerto Rico's Francisco Pérez (1:10.24).
The 16-year-old's second silver medal came in the 200-metre Individual Medley (IM) where Davelaar again bested him,
hitting the wall in 2:15.90 ahead of Hamilton's time of 2:16.87. Puerto Rico's Harold Rivera was third in 2:17.78.
Dominic Lee won his first gold medal of the championships on its final night after an exquisite performance in the Boys' 18 and over 200-metre IM.
Lee outdid his opponents by more than a second after he clocked in at 2:14.10, ahead of Puerto Rico's Eliezer Lizardi, who finished in 2:15.78. The Netherlands Antilles' Daley Pinedoe was third in 2:17.61.
BELOW CHAMPS RECORD
Lee also missed out on getting to the podium in the 100-metre backstroke after all three swimmers ahead of him, Barbados' Andrei Cross (1:06.88), the Dominican Republic's Arturo Montilla (1:07.21), and Puerto Rico's José Pérez (1:07.27), went below the championships record for the event.
On a night of firsts, Jamaica also earned their first relay medal, after the 13-14 team of Ramon Walton, Donovan Todd, Dominic Walter, and Richard Graham managed a bronze in the 400-metre medley relay.
Trinidad and Tobago won that race in a time of 4:14.64 ahead of Puerto Rico, who clocked in at 4:20.73. Jamaica ended a good distance off the pace in a time of 4:30.67.
P.A.W.
