In a thrilling display at the Paris La Defense Arena, the Caribbean swimmers demonstrated their athleticism in the men's 100m freestyle with outstanding performances, but mixed results.

In heat two, Suriname's Irvin Hoost finished fourth in 52.99s, while St Lucia's Jayhan Odlum-Smith (50.39s) finished second in heat four, but their times were not good enough to advance.

Heat five saw Bahamian Olympic debutant Lamar Taylor clock a new National Record of 48.84s, and he was also the first swimmer to go sub-50 on the night. Barbados' Jack Kirby finished third in 50.42s.

Aruban swimmer Mikel Schreuders followed Taylor’s suit in heat six, as he too stopped the clock in 48.84s, before Dylan Carter (49.35s) of Trinidad and Tobago finished eighth in heat seven.

However, the night belonged to Jordan Crooks of the Cayman Islands, who performed admirably to finish third in a blistering 48.01s in heat eight.

Crooks advanced to the semi-finals with the fifth fastest time overall, a mere 0.44 seconds behind the fastest qualifier, American Jack Alexy. The other Caribbean competitors ranked: Hoost (68th), Odlum-Smith (44th), Taylor and Schreuders tied for 26th, Kirby (46th), and Carter (34th).

Collymore, Persaud and Crooks failed to progress in women’s 100m freestyle

Grenada's Tilly Collymore, Guyana's Aleka Persaud and Cayman Islands’ Jillian Crooks all performed exceptionally well in the women's 100m freestyle at the Paris La Defense Arena, but like most of their male counterparts, failed to make the final cut to the semi-finals.

In heat one, Collymore finished second in 58.84s, just 0.65 seconds behind the winner. Persaud (1:01.29) placed fourth in the same heat, while Crooks (56.15s) finished seventh in heat two.

By virtue of their times, Crooks was 23rd overall, Collymore (26th), and Persaud (28th). Sweden's experienced campaigner, Sarah Sjöström, was the fastest qualifier in 52.99s.

Still, the Caribbean ladies had much to celebrate as Collymore, 16, is an Olympic debutant, while Persaud, 18, the youngest member of the Guyana team, was gracing the global multi-sport showpiece for a second time. She finished 55th in the 50m freestyle in Tokyo 2020 with a time of 27.76 seconds.

Crooks, 18, was also enjoying her second Olympic Games outing, having made her Olympic Games debut in Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. She won three medals at last year’s Commonwealth Youth Games.

US Virgin Islands’ D'Amour eliminated in men’s Archery

Nicholas D'Amour of the US Virgin Islands lost 6-4 to Japanese archer Fumiya Saito in the men's individual round of 32 eliminations at the Invalides on Tuesday.

Despite a valiant attempt, D'Amour was defeated by a single point in the last set.

D'Amour demonstrated tremendous skill, leading set 2 with a score of 27-24. The Japanese and D'Amour tied sets 1 and 4, with Saito winning sets 3 and 5, defeating the USVI representative by one point in the last set, which determined the outcome. 

D'Amour, 22, made his Olympic debut in Tokyo 2020, becoming the first archer to represent the US Virgin Islands. He was eliminated in the first round in a shootout. In 2021, he finished in the top 10 on several occasions, moving him 196 places into the top five in the world rankings. He is also accredited as the 2022 Vegas Shoot silver medallist.

As expected, Sada Williams headlines a four-member Barbados team to the Paris 2024 Olympics.

The 26-year-old World Bronze medallist is one of two track and field athletes who will compete for Barbados at the July 26-August 12 event.

Williams, who trains in Jamaica, will contest the Women's 400 metres, while sprinter Tristan Evelyn is set to take part in the Women's 100 metres.

Matthew Wright is the lone Triathlete while the other competitor is swimmer Jack Kirby, who gained a Universality Place.

Jack Kirby of Barbados became the first English-speaking swimmer to win a medal at the Pan Am Junior Games on Sunday.

Kirby won bronze in the Men’s 100m backstroke, in a time of 56.18, behind silver medallist Patrick Groters of Aruba and gold medallist, Diego Salgado of Mexico.

He’s the second medallist for Barbados at the Pan Am Games since countryman Bradley Ally won a bronze medal in the 200m individual medley at the 2007 Games in Rio De Janeiro.

Kirby also became the third English-speaking Caribbean medallist in the 100m Backstroke after George Bovell III of Trinidad and Tobago won silver at the 2003 Games in Santo Domingo and Dylan Carter, also from Trinidad, won bronze in 2019 in Lima.

On Monday, Cayman’s Jillian Crooks finished 3^rd in the B final of the Women’s 50m freestyle in 26.73.

Nikolai Blackman from Trinidad won the B final in the Men’s 50m freestyle in 23.47 while Lamar Taylor of the Bahamas was third in 23.61.