Trinidad and Tobago swimmer Dylan Carter won his third gold medal at leg two of the FINA Swimming World Cup 2022 in Toronto, Canada on Sunday.

Carter won the men’s 50-metre butterfly event in 22.28 seconds at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre ahead of South African Chad Le Clos in 22.45 and Italian Thomas Ceccon in 22.60.

On Friday night, Carter also swam to gold in the men’s 50m freestyle before breaking his own national record on his way to gold in the men’s 50m backstroke a day later.

Carter now has six gold medals at the World Cup. At the first leg of the World Cup in Berlin, Germany from October 21-23, Carter won the 50m freestyle, 50m backstroke and the 50m butterfly, setting national records in the first two.

 

Trinidad and Tobago’s Dylan Carter won his third gold medal at the opening leg of the FINA Swimming World Cup in Berlin, Germany on Sunday.

Through an injection of funds from the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA), the Aquatic Sports Association of Jamaica (ASAJ) will be able to send a national team of twenty-five swimmers to the upcoming XXVI Goodwill Swim Meet in Trinidad & Tobago.

The members, aged 9-17, will compete at the regional meet from August 19-21 against other Caribbean countries such as Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados, St. Lucia, Guyana, Suriname, Bahamas, Grenada and Curacao.

JOA’s sponsorship of JMD$1.2 million will go to reducing the overall costs to parents for accommodation and participation. JOA CEO and General-Secretary Ryan Foster believes in our young national athletes and their potential to represent Jamaica at all levels.

“Swimming is an essential sport, investing in the national team for the Goodwill Swim Meet will solidify our commitment to develop and promote our local athletes,” CEO Foster said.

Speaking at a recent press conference to announce the team’s plans for the meet, Vice President of the Aquatic Sports Association of Jamaica, Georgina Sinclair, explained that the Goodwill Swim Meet is the premier swim meet in the Caribbean and is a launching pad toward higher levels of competition. 

Sinclair said, “The competition at the Goodwill Meet is fierce and provides swimmers with a taste of regional rivalry. In 2019 team Jamaica doubled its previous medal haul of 32 medals when the team won 65 medals: 21 gold, 22 silver and 22 bronzed, placing 2nd overall out of 9 participating countries behind the winners, Trinidad and Tobago.” 

Goodwill Jamaica National Swim Team Head Coach Kafia Rapley shared, “The team has been training very hard for these championships, and I know they are ready,” she added, “I am excited to see how they will perform, and I believe they will each do very well in both their individual and relay events.”

 

Jamaica’s Sunshine Girls recorded a second straight win at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, following a 68-49 win over South Africa on Saturday.

In the Pool A encounter Jamaica captain Jhanielle Fowler led the way for the Caribbean team with a game-high 33 from 33 attempts, as they jumped out to a sizeable 18-7 first-quarter lead and never looked back.  The Jamaicans began the competition with a 72-34 win over Wales.

Men’s Rugby

Elsewhere, a tough start to the tournament continued for the Jamaica Men’s Rugby Sevens team who remained winless.  The team followed up losses to Australia and Kenya with a 40-0 defeat to Uganda and 45-7 loss to England in the Men’s 9-16 Quarter-Final.

Swimming

In the pool, Jamaica’s Kito Campbell qualified to the semi-finals of the Men's 100m Breaststroke after finishing second in the event behind Papua New Guinea’s Ryan Maskelyne.  In the Women's 50m Freestyle Mackenzie Headley advanced to the next round after finishing 6th in Heat 8 but failed to advance from semi-final 2.

Cycling

In cycling, Dahlia Palmer failed to advance from the first round of the Women's Sprint – Qualifying after finishing 21st, while Daniel Palmer and Malik Reid failed to advance from the Men's Keirin.

Badminton/Squash

In the Badminton Mixed team event, Jamaica secured a 4-1 over Zambia while in Squash, Chris Binnie received a w/o to the next round after India’s Ramit Tandon forfeited the match.

Jamaica’s 15-17 200m freestyle mixed relay team was in record-breaking form at the 2022 CCCAN Swimming Championships on Monday’s opening day in Barbados.

The team of Devaughn Robe (24.84), Zaneta Alvaranga (25.63), Sabrina Lyn (26.43) and Nelson Denny (24.15) took the victory in 1:41.05, a new national record.

At the Pan Am aquatics Age Group Championships in June in Trinidad and Tobago, the team of Nelson Denny (24.48), Leanna Wainwright (27.75), Morgan Cogle (27.21) and Zachary Jackson-Blaine (24.11) had set the previous mark of 1:43.55 to take silver.

Individually, Kabiki Thomas took bronze in the Boys’ 13-14 100m breaststroke on Wednesday.

Thomas, swimming from lane eight, achieved a personal best 1:11.88 to win bronze. Thomas also took silver in the same discipline in 1:12.45 at the Pan Am Age Group Championships in June after a fifth-place effort at April’s CARIFTA Swimming Championships in Barbados.

Olympic swimming gold medallist Bronte Campbell says any work on the sport's new open category should require talks with the "unbelievably marginalised" transgender community.

World governing body FINA last month announced the banning of all transgender women from elite female competition, if they have experienced any stage of male puberty.

The authority has received praise from long-time campaigners and strong criticism from LGBT advocacy groups for its decision, while World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said the swimming body was acting in its best interest.

Campbell, who won freestyle relay gold medals with Australia at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, says any discussion over the introduction of an open category requires discussion with those who will be affected by the decision.

"I think it's important to look at all options," she said, quoted by the Australian Associated Press. "It's something you have to engage with the transgender community on. You have to figure out what they want to do in this situation.

"It's not for us to sit back and make up things without talking to the appropriate people."

Campbell's sister and fellow Olympic gold medallist Cate previously stated the gender inclusion policy would preserve the "fairness" of the sport.

Bronte Campbell added: "It's a really complicated issue. You're talking about a community that has been so unbelievably marginalised over the years and still faces that.

"So it's important to make sure that we're doing something to protect those people as well. Everyone's going to get past that next hurdle before they start thinking and engaging with it."

FINA on Wednesday confirmed the appointment of Jamaican swimming legend Alia Atkinson to the CHAIR of their Athletes Committee.

FINA is the international federation recognized by the International Olympic Committee for administering international competitions in water sports. The represented disciplines are Swimming; diving; artistic swimming; water polo; open water swimming and high diving.

This appointment in the first instance is effective for four years. In this position, Atkinson will have responsibility for Athletes affairs not only for swimming, but in all water sport disciplines. As Chairperson, she represents the Committee and Athlete voice at the highest level of decision making.

When contacted, Atkinson said how thrilled and honored she was with the appointment and indicated that she is looking forward to making a contribution to the development of swimmers and aquatic sports globally.

“Today marks another significant step forward for both FINA and all aquatics athletes,” said Atkinson.

“The Athletes’ Committee will act as a critical link between athletes and FINA. Having the athlete community choose those who represent them in important decisions is critical for the future development of our beloved sport,” Atkinson added.

Atkinson, the current world record holder in the short course 50m and 100m breaststroke, retired from the sport in 2021 after competing at the World Swimming Championships in December.

She won a total of 31 major championship medals for Jamaica since her debut at the 2004 Summer Olympics including 15 gold, 10 silver and six bronze.

World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said swimming's global governing body was acting in its "best interest" by launching measures that will see transgender women banned from racing against elite female competitors.

FINA [Federation Internationale de Natation] announced on Sunday that it would bar all transgender women who had experienced any stage of male puberty from racing in women's events.

It marked a distinct shift in policy for a major sport and was welcomed by long-time campaigners, including the British former Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies.

There have been calls for other sports to following swimming's example and move away from eligibility policies that are based on testosterone limits; however, LGBT advocacy groups have strongly criticised FINA's move.

US-based group Athlete Ally said FINA's restrictions were "discriminatory, harmful, unscientific and not in line with the 2021 IOC [International Olympic Committee] principles".

The swimming authority said the regulation had been voted in by a 71.5 per cent majority after FINA commission members heard from an athletes' group, a science and medicine group, and a legal and human rights group.

Athletics has yet to commit to a similar policy, but Coe's indication of support for FINA's position points to that being a possibility in the future.

Speaking to BBC Sport, Coe said: "We see an international federation asserting its primacy in setting rules, regulations and policies that are in the best interest of its sport.

"This is as it should be. We have always believed that biology trumps gender and we will continue to review our regulations in line with this. We will follow the science.

"We continue to study, research and contribute to the growing body of evidence that testosterone is a key determinant in performance, and have scheduled a discussion on our regulations with our council at the end of the year."

 

Florida International University (FIU) swimmer Kelsie Campbell has been selected for Jamaica’s team for the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England from July 28-August 8.

“Happy to announce that I’ve been selected to represent Jamaica at the Commonwealth Games this summer,” said the British-born 24-year-old on her Instagram page.

“To those who have supported me this far…I’m in the best shape of my life and I owe you all thanks for getting me here,” the FIU senior added.

Campbell helped the FIU Women’s Swimming and Diving team finish second overall at the CSCAA (College Swimming Coaches Association of America) National Invitational Championship in Indiana on Thursday.

FIU finished with 623 points behind Ohio State (828 points) and ahead of Tennessee (575.5 points).

Campbell broke a school record to take silver in the 100 Yard Individual Medley in 55.21.

She also broke a program record in the prelims of the 50m butterfly with 23.90 on Tuesday.

The Amateur Swimming Association of Trinidad and Tobago has named their team for the 2022 CARIFTA Swimming & Open Water Championships in Barbados this month.

The Championships will run from April 16-19 at the Barbados Aquatic Centre in Wildey, Christ Church while the open water 5k will take place in Carlisle Bay on April 20.

The team for the pool portion is as follows: Saphire Wong Chong-Achee (Female 11-12), Alejandro Agard, Marcus Alexander (Male 11-12), Zachary Anthony, Giovanni Rivas, Liam Carrington, Liam Roberts (Male 13-14), Nikoli Blackman, Johann-Matthew Matamoro, Zarek Wilson, Aaron Stuart (Male 15-17).

Blackman, Anthony and Carrington will also compete in the Open Water event while that team also includes Irmani Smith (Female 14-15), Zoe Anthony, Amelia Rajak and Jade Foncette (Female 16-18).

 

When Suriname Olympian Anthony Nesty was named the head coach of the USA men’s team for the 2022 Budapest World Championships, he made history in multiple ways.

The most culturally significant is that he becomes the first black swim coach to lead a U.S. team into the World Championships.

Nesty’s selection can hardly be considered as some sort of affirmative action pick: he, along with Todd DeSorbo, who is leading the women’s team to Budapest, number among the country’s most on-fire coaches at the moment, and are arguably at the top of the global food chain as well.

Nesty-coached swimmers Bobby Finke and Kieran Smith to Olympic medals, with Finke pulling off a surprise 800/1500 double in thrilling come-from-behind fashion.

Since the Olympics, the United States’ two most-decorated swimmers in Tokyo have joined Nesty’s group: Caeleb Dressel, who was training previously in the same pool but under former Florida head coach Gregg Troy; and Katie Ledecky, who made the post-Tokyo move from Stanford where she trained under Greg Meehan.

In total, those four swimmers have a combined 16 Olympic gold medals and 20 total Olympic medals. Throw in a bronze from Natalie Hinds, who was training at Georgia pre-Tokyo but has also now joined the Gators post-grad group, and the Nesty-led staff is now the epicentre of the swimming universe, at least in the Western Hemisphere.

He has broken barriers before that 1988 Olympic gold medal made him the first Black male athlete to win an individual Olympic medal in swimming.  It wasn’t his only achievement. 

As an athlete, representing Suriname, Nesty was not only the 1988 Olympic gold medallist and 1992 Olympic bronze medallist in the 100 butterfly but was also a 1991 World Champion in the same event.

 

 

 

Tom Brady has been confirmed as one of the nominees for Sportsman of the Year at the 2022 Laureus World Sports Awards, less than 24 hours after announcing his retirement from the NFL.

The seven-time Super Bowl winner is nominated along with tennis star Novak Djokovic, Formula One world champion Max Verstappen, long-distance runner Eliud Kipchoge, swimmer Caeleb Dressel and Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski, the only man on the list who was also nominated for last year's award, which was won by Rafael Nadal.

Ash Barty, who recently won the Australian Open in front of a raucous home crowd, is among the nominees for Sportswoman of the Year, along with sprinters Allyson Felix and Elaine Thompson-Herah, swimmers Katie Ledecky and Emma McKeon, and Ballon d'Or and FIFA Best award winner Alexia Putellas.

Last year's award was won by tennis star Naomi Osaka.

Tennis is also represented well in the nominees for Breakthrough of the Year, with US Open champions Daniil Medvedev and Emma Raducanu making the shortlist, along with javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, footballer Pedri, swimmer Ariarne Titmus and triple jumper Yulimar Rojas.

The Team of the Year award will be contested by three football teams in the Argentina and Italy men's national sides and Barcelona Women, as well as NBA champions the Milwaukee Bucks.

Gymnast Simone Biles has been nominated for Comeback of the Year, while para-cyclist Dame Sarah Storey is on the shortlist for Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability.

The nominees were selected by a panel of 1300 sports journalists, and the winners will be announced in April following a vote by the 71 Members of the Laureus World Sports Academy.

Full list of nominees

Sportsman of the Year: Tom Brady (American football), Novak Djokovic (tennis), Caeleb Dressel (swimming), Eliud Kipchoge (athletics), Robert Lewandowski (football), Max Verstappen (motor racing)

Sportswoman of the Year: Ash Barty (tennis), Allyson Felix, (athletics), Katie Ledecky (swimming), Emma McKeon (swimming), Alexia Putellas (football), Elaine Thompson-Herah (athletics)

Breakthrough of the Year: Neeraj Chopra (athletics), Daniil Medvedev (tennis), Pedri (football), Emma Raducanu (tennis), Yulimar Rojas (athletics), Ariarne Titmus (swimming)

Team of the Year: Argentina men's national football team, Barcelona Women's football team, Italy men's national football team, Milwaukee Bucks (basketball)

Comeback of the Year: Simone Biles (gymnastics), Sky Brown (skateboarding), Mark Cavendish (cycling), Tom Daley (diving), Marc Marquez (motor cycling), Annemiek van Vleuten (cycling)

Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability: Diede De Groot (wheelchair tennis), Marcel Hug (wheelchair athletics), Shingo Kunieda (wheelchair tennis), Jetze Plat (para cycling / para triathlon), Susana Rodríguez (para triathlon), Sarah Storey (para cycling)

World Action Sportsperson of the Year: Italo Ferreira (surfing), Alberto Gines (climbing), Yuto Horigome (skateboarding), Carissa Moore (surfing), Momiji Nishiya (skateboarding), Bethany Shriever (BMX)

Sport for Good Award: Ich will da rauf! (climbing), Juca Pe Cagna (multisport), Kick 4 Life (football), Lost Boyz Inc. (baseball), Monkey Magic (climbing)

Cyclist Nicholas Paul and track and field athlete Michelle Lee Ahye walked away with the top male and female honours at the Trinidad & Tobago Olympic Committee 27th Annual Awards Ceremony held on Wednesday evening.

In the event, which was broadcast over video-conferencing platform Zoom, Paul and Ahye were named TTOC’s senior Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year respectively for 2021.

TTOC President Brian Lewis addressed the virtual audience before the distribution of awards.

“In 2021, our athletes showed that they faced their fears. They went to Tokyo and gave their best. They did not make excuses and of course, they showed emotional, physical, and mental stamina by facing their disappointments, their failures, their mistakes, and the criticism of those who weren’t in the arena; who didn’t have to overcome economic issues, lack of training issues, doubt issues, death in their families and close circles,” said Lewis.

“As we look forward to 2022, we are encouraged by the example and the discipline and resolve shown by team TTO at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and the Junior Pan Am Games,” he added.

It was Ahye’s fourth time holding the title after winning from 2016-2018 while Paul received the award for the second time, his first coming back in 2019.

Paul, the current world-record holder in the Men’s flying 200m, earned the top male award based on his silver medal performance in the Men’s one-kilometre time-trial at the UCI Tissot World Track Cycling Championship in Roubaix, France, back in October.

He was also sixth in the Men’s Sprint at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Ahye was deemed the top female based on her ninth-place finish in the Women’s 100m at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where she narrowly missed out on the final.

Swimmer Nikoli Blackman, a member of T&T’s teams at both the Pan Am Junior Games and Swimming World Championships (SC) this year, was named Junior Sportsman of the Year for the second consecutive year, and track and field athlete Rae-Anne Serville, now representing USC, was Junior Sportswoman of the Year.

Olympic long jump finalist and 2021 NCAA Heptathlon Champion at Texas A&M, Tyra Gittens, was named the Sports Personality of the Year and reacted to it on her Instagram page on Wednesday.

“Blessed to receive the Sports Personality award during the TTOC 27th Annual Award Ceremony this evening. I can’t wait to represent TTO again next year,” she said.

West Indies senior women’s vice-captain Anissa Mohammed won the Future is Female award.

 

Jamaican swimming legend Alia Atkinson has decided to call it a career after her fourth-place finish in the Women’s 100m Breaststroke at the FINA World Short-course Championships in Abu Dhabi on Monday.

Atkinson, 33, announced her retirement from the sport in a post on Instagram after completing her races at the championships.

“Not the meet I hoped for but I am happy to say I finished every ounce of swimming talent God gave me, the bottle empty. Many times, I wanted to quit or give up, but I saw it through to the end,” Atkinson said.

The three-time Jamaica Sportswoman of the Year also offered her fans words of wisdom in her farewell message.

“It’s been a rollercoaster of fun and not so fun moments but always remember to make fun memories…they don’t make themselves, take nothing for granted and enjoy each step both the good and the challenging, let go of the negatives of the day, your best changes daily so do the best you can on that day!” Atkinson added.

Atkinson leaves behind a remarkable legacy in the sport, retiring as the current world-record holder (SC) in both the 50m and 100m with times of 28.56 and 1:02.36, respectively.

“Fun fact: I get to retire with my two World Records intact. That’s something I never thought would happen and this last race reminded me just how remarkable my career was,” she said.

Making her competitive debut for Jamaica at the 2004 Athens Olympics as a 15-year-old, Atkinson went on to amass more than 30 medals in international competition.

She won two medals at the Long-course Swimming Championships, 10 at the Short-course Swimming Championships including four gold, three at the Commonwealth Games, two at the Pan Am Games and 14 at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games including 11 gold.

She offered a last message of gratitude to those who have supported her throughout the years.

“Many thanks to all that have supported me, cheered for me and followed me these past decades. It meant a lot,” Atkinson said.

Atkinson retires as one of Jamaica and the Caribbean's most successful athletes in the history of the sport whose contributions will be talked about for generations.

 

 

 

Trinidad &Tobago’s Dylan Carter won the Caribbean’s first medal at the 2021 FINA Short-course Swimming Championships in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.

Carter swam a national record 21.98 to win silver in the Men’s 50m butterfly behind Brazil’s Nicholas Santos, who recorded 21.93 for gold.

Italy’s Matteo Revolta was third in 22.02.

This is Carter’s second Short-course World Championships medal after winning bronze in the 50m butterfly at the 2018 championships in Hangzhou.

Carter, a 2020 Olympian, dedicated his silver medal performance to his parents.

“This one is for my parents who have been my endless support through thick and thin,” he said.

Meanwhile, Bahamian Joanna Evans contested her second final at the meet, placing seventh in the 400m Freestyle in a national record 4:01.09 seconds, three days after her eighth-place finish in the 200m Freestyle final.

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