The 2025 Carifta Aquatic Championships exploded to life as records tumbled, rivalries flared, and rising stars threw down the gauntlet on a fiercely competitive opening day of action at the National Aquatic Centre in Couva on Saturday.
Leading the charge was Trinidad and Tobago, whose athletes asserted themselves with power-packed swims and strategic dominance across multiple age groups and strokes. The home crowd erupted with pride as swimmers like Catherine Dieffenthaller, Zuri Ferguson , and Liam Carrington delivered golden performances in front of roaring supporters. They ended the day fourth on the medal standing with 12 medals comprising four gold, four silver and four bronze.
Bahamas ended the day with seven gold, eight silver and four bronze, while Jamaica closed with six gold, five silver, and three bronze, and Cayman Islands copped five gold, one silver and three bronze. Barbados with three gold, two silver and one bronze, complete the top five.
The tone was set early by 13-year-old Reagan Uszenski of the Virgin Islands, who blew away the competition in the Girls 13-14 800m freestyle with a remarkable 9:22.27. She finished well ahead of Trinidad and Tobago’s Marena Martinez (9:49.52) and Zara Persico (9:53.57), who secured silver and bronze respectively.
Heidi Stoute of Barbados copped the girls' 15-17 800m freestyle in 9:18.93, ahead of Grenada's Tilly Collymore (9:32.10) and Madison MacMillan (9:35.47) of Antigua and Barbuda.
Lennox Turnham-Wheatley of Cayman Islands outlasted competitors in the boys' 13-14 1500m freestyle to win in 16:32.95. Jamaica's Noland Barrett (17:18.14) and Gabriel Bispath (17:32.9) also of Cayman Islands were the runners-up.
Cayman Islands also copped the boy's 15-17 1500m freestyle courtesy of Dominic Hilton, who clocked 16:30.72 as Trinidad and Tobago's Zachary Anthony (16:44.40), while Bermuda’s Thomas Cechini (16:48.61) rounded out the top three.
Trinidad and Tobago swimmers returned to the podium with flair in the girls' 15-17 200m breaststroke, as Catherine Dieffenthaller powered her way to gold in 2:44.08, staving off Antigua’s Ellie Shaw (2:44.35) and Bahamas’ Elyse Wood (2:45.99). Meanwhile, Carrington brought the house down in the boys' 15-17 50m backstroke, cracking the 26-second barrier with a sizzling 25.97s.
The Bahamas also bagged notable performances from Sienna Campbell (2:56.46) and Isabella Munroe (2:58.52), who went one-two in the girls' 11-12 200m breaststroke. Sapphire Parks (2:59.09) of St. Lucia was third in that event.
David Singh (2:31.79) delivered gold in the Boys 13-14 200m Breaststroke, narrowly edging out Trinidad and Tobago’s duo of Ethan McMillan-Cole (2:34.05) and Jadon Ramdeen (2:35.31).
Kaija Eastmond of Barbados stole the show in the girls' 11-12 50m backstroke and 100m butterfly, grabbing double gold with dominant swims. She clocked 1:07.37 in the butterfly and
Cayman Islands' backstroke specialist Lev Fahy also turned heads in the boys 13-14 50m with a scorching 28.22s.
Jamaica’s Skyelar Richards dazzled in the girls' 13-14 50m backstroke, winning with a smooth Championship Record of 29.87s, while teammate Carolyn Levy-Powell (29.82s) snagged silver in the 15-17 version of the event, which was won by Trinidad and Tobago's standout Ferguson (29.18s). The Reggae Nation ended the day with 14 medals.
The highlight of Jamaica's day came in the relays, where their teams dominated across age groups. Jamaica stormed to four relay gold medals. Their girls' 11-12, girls' 13-14, girls' 15-17, and boys' 13-14 squads put on dominant performances in the relays. The boys' 13-14 and girls' 15-17 times of 3:44.99 and 3:58.38 respectively were both new National Age Group Records.
Meanwhile, Suriname, Aruba, and Martinique each contributed moments of brilliance, with Ismael Jair Holtuin of Suriname clocking 27.36 in the boys' 15-17 50m backstroke for bronze, and Aruba’s Leandro Santiesteban (2:44.40) topped the 11-12 200m breaststroke.