Olympians Carter, Thompson for CARIFTA Championship

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T&T Olympic swimmers 28-year-old, Dylan Carter and 31-year-old Cherelle Thompson have both been included in the 37-member T&T swimming team selected for the 37th CARIFTA Swimming Championships in the Bahamas from March 30 to April 2.

While swimmers over the age of 18 will be presented with medals for their top three placing in the 50-metre and 100m races, they will not be allowed to contribute towards their team’s overall medal or points tally as the events will be considered exhibition swims.

Last month, Carter secured two gold medals and one silver in the first International Copa Queretaro in Mexico.

Carter won the 50m freestyle in 22.34 seconds and also won the 100m freestyle in 50.00 seconds flat. Carter was second in the men’s 50m butterfly in 23.68 with 44-year-old Brazilian world record holder Nicholas Santos winning in 23.47 seconds.

In January at the FINA Aquatics World Championship, Carter was fifth in the 50m butterfly after a clocked 23.17 seconds in the final, while he placed 15th in the 100m freestyle semifinal in 22.0,1.

Thompson also competed at the FINA meet and placed 38th in the women’s freestyle in 26.03 and 41st in the 50m butterfly in the Bahamas. Both swimmers will be using the meet as part of their preparations for the upcoming international outings, especially the Olympic Games in Paris, France.

Absent from the T&T swimming contingent will be the USA-based duo of world junior 50m freestyle champion Nikoli Blackman, and Zarek Wilson, due to school commitments as the Carifta meet clashes with the NCAA Division I Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships which comes off at the Indiana University Natatorium in the United States.

Last year, T&T led by Blackman, a three-time Commonwealth Youth Games gold medal winner, Wilson, who also won three medals at the CYG and USA-based duo of Liam Carrington and Liam Roberts, sparked T&T to a third place finish at the 36th Caribbean Free Trade Association Aquatics (CARIFTA) Championships at the Enith Brigitha Swimming Pool of the Centro Deportivo Korsou in Curacao.