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• Lyston through to 100m final at SEC Outdoors; Pryce becomes eighth-fastest Jamaican ever to advance to 400m final

  Brianna Lyston secured a chance at the sprint double at the SEC Outdoor Championships in Gainesville, Florida after booking her spot in the final of the women’s 100m.

  The LSU sophomore, who ran 22.31 on Thursday to secure her spot in the 200m final, came back a day later to run 11.09 to be the joint-fastest qualifier for Saturday’s final alongside collegiate leader Jacious Sears of Tennessee.

  Bahamian Florida junior Wanya McCoy and Jamaican Georgia freshman Jehlani Gordon advanced to the men’s 100m final as the second and ninth fastest qualifiers with 10.09 and 10.17, respectively.

  The women’s 400m prelims saw Arkansas senior Nickisha Pryce become the eighth-fastest Jamaican ever in the event.

  Pryce, who is Jamaica’s reigning national champion, ran a personal best and collegiate leading 49.72 to advance to the final as the fastest qualifier ahead of teammate Kaylyn Brown who ran 49.86.

  LSU sophomore Jahiem Stern produced 13.45 to advance to the final of the 110m hurdles.

  In the field, the Jamaican Arkansas pair of Romaine Beckford and Wayne Pinnock won gold in the high jump and long jump, respectively.

  Beckford had a best clearance of 2.22m to win ahead of LSU’s Kuda Chadenga (2.19m) and Ole Miss’s Arvesta Troupe (2.14m).

  Pinnock, a sliver medalist at last year’s World Championships in Budapest, jumped 8.09m to successfully defend his SEC title.

  Georgia’s Micah Larry produced 7.80m for second while Florida’s Caleb Foster was third with the same distance.

   

   

• Adam Peaty and Duncan Scott named in Team GB swimming squad for Paris Olympics

  Adam Peaty and Duncan Scott have been included in Team GB’s 33-strong swimming squad for this summer’s Olympics.

  Peaty secured his spot at Paris 2024 at the British Championships earlier this month and will be gunning for a third successive gold medal in his signature men’s 100 metres breaststroke event.

  He set the fastest time for 2024 in the discipline at the British trials after a turbulent past couple of years in which he has struggled with injuries and a much-publicised battle with his mental health.

  “I’m thrilled to have made my third Olympic team,” Peaty said. “It’s always amazing to be part of Team GB, but with it being so close to home in Paris this summer, and us having more home fans there supporting us, it’s even more exciting.”

  Scott, who became the first Briton to win four medals at a single Games at Tokyo 2020, also booked his passage by winning the men’s 200m individual medley and finishing as runner-up to Matt Richards in the men’s 100m and 200m freestyle events in London a couple of weeks ago.

  Richards aims to break Scott’s record and become the first Briton to win five medals at one Games and has been chosen, as has Tom Dean although the double Olympic champion will almost certainly not defend the men’s 200m freestyle title he won in Tokyo after failing to get a top-two spot in the British trials.

  Freya Colbert and Oliver Morgan are among 10 swimmers who will make their Olympic debuts, while Freya Anderson has been selected despite missing out on automatic qualification after contracting glandular fever at the start of the year.

  Team GB won a record eight medals in the pool in Tokyo, surpassing their previous best of seven from the 1908 Games.

  “Team GB has a proud tradition in Olympic swimming competitions, and I am delighted to welcome all 33 athletes to the team for Paris 2024,” said Team GB chef de mission Mark England.

  “The strength and depth of our pool swimming team was evident to see at the recent Aquatics GB Swimming Championships, and along with the 10 swimmers making their debut for Team GB it is fantastic to welcome back seven Olympic Champions and nine Olympic medallists.

  “I have no doubt the thrilling races we saw at the British Championships last week will be equally close fought.”

• Alert, Barrett continue to bask in Carifta Swim Champs accomplishments; praise team effort

  The 37th Carifta Swimming Championships has come and gone, but the experience of representing one's country on one of the biggest stages in the region has left an indelible mark on the younger participants, in particular, to the point where they continue to revel in their accomplishments.

  Jamaica's Kia Alert and Noland Barrett are two such swimmers, who though not new to national representation, basked in the fact that they rose to the occasion and displayed their immense potential with standout performances that assisted the country to its 45-medal tally, including 18 gold, 12 silver and 15 bronze.

  The 27-member Jamaican team also placed fourth on the points standing with combined total of 559 points, behind host The Bahamas (1,096.50 points), who secured an unprecedented sixth-straight Carifta Swimming Championship victory. Cayman Islands (660 points), Trinidad and Tobago (639 points), and Barbados (486.50 points) were the other top five teams.

  Alert, who competed in the girls’ 11-12 division, relished her second outing at the championship, as she earned most points for Jamaica. She copped gold in the 50m and 100m breaststroke, the 50m and 100m freestyle, as well as in the 50m butterfly, and those were complemented by silver in the 200m breaststroke and 200m individual medley (IM).

  

  “I really felt like I was prepared enough to do really well, and I was excited just to put the hours of hard work on display, so I was really happy and proud hearing the National anthem after I won, knowing that all the hard work paid off,” Alert said.

  “I also felt good about my other performances because I know I tried my hardest even on the third day when I had the 200m IM, 100m breast and 50m free, I tried my hardest and succeeded so I am really grateful that I came out healthy,” she added.

  While delighted with her personal haul, Alert praised her teammates, Christanya Shirley and others, who in a consistent show of spirit and talent, also contributed significantly to Jamaica’s medal haul. That togetherness and pride she said is what swimmers count on to keep going, especially when things don’t go as expected in the pool.

  “Team Jamaica’s performances deserve tremendous commendation. After a slow start, each member of the team gave their best and everyone contributed to our total points tally. For each day of the competitions there were several personal best performances seen, so even if swimmers did not medal, they did well enough to achieve PBs and that’s enough to be proud of,” Alert reasoned.

  

  Meanwhile, the overseas-based Barrett, who had a credible outing at CCCAN last year, was making his debut at the Carifta Swimming Championships and contested finals in most of his events in the boys’ 13-14 category. He won gold in the 100m, 200m and the 400m freestyle events.

  “Going into the Carifta Games I was excited to not only see my teammates I haven't seen in a while, but more importantly, to perform very well. I had a lot of fun being there and also dropping a lot of times and securing personal best, and while hearing the national anthem, I was proud that I was representing my country,” Barrett shared.

  “So, I was really satisfied with my performances, I am more excited about the 400m free where I ended up dropping 11 seconds and I was really proud of how much I was able to accomplish on my first year and knowing that I have next year to do even better,” he noted.

  Barrett contested the 13-14 age group alongside, Matthew Kennedy, Kai Radcliffe and others, who also produced credible performances.

  

  Kennedy mined bronze in the 100m and 200m freestyle to go with his other top eight finishes, while Radcliffe, known for his breaststroke prowess, secured gold in the 50m and 100m breaststroke, and silver in the 200m breaststroke.

  Radcliffe also flirted with the 50m breaststroke national age group record of 30.94s held by Kito Campbell, with his 30.98s-clocking.

  Like Alert, Barrett, 14, pointed out that the team spirit was based on pride, passion and performance.

  “I am proud of the team's performance, and I believe every athlete should be celebrated for their effort. All the coaches who prepared the swimmers for qualification and the championship should be proud of how they performed. We all stood strong, performed strong and gave out best to achieve what we did for Jamaica,” Barrett ended.