A SMALL BUT TALENTED TEAM of young Barbadian swimmers recently returned to the island from Suriname where they placed third in the 12th Annual Goodwill Swim Meet in Paramaribo.

The meet was won by hosts Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago was second.

Comprising 17 swimmers, primarily from the eight-and-under and nine-to-ten age groups, the young athletes showed grit and determination. They collected 13 individual medals and four relay medals – two gold, three silver and eight bronze.

Gold medals were tough to come by, but Barbados' reigning eight-and-under champion at both long course and short course, Inayah Sherry became the darling of the team, ensuring that the Barbados National Anthem was played twice.

The Alpha Sharks swimmer was a convincing winner in the 100-metre freestyle and 50-metre freestyle events in 1:17.26 and 34.42, respectively. She also picked up silver medals in the 50-metre backstroke (40.67) and 100-metre individual medley (1:28.13) to place second overall among the eight-and-under girls behind Brienne Renfurm of Suriname.

In the boys' division, Christian Selby of Pirates Swim Club earned bronze in the 50-metre freestyle (34.76), 100-metre freestyle (1:15.95) and 100-metre individual medley (1:28.13), placing third overall in the division after Jabari Baptiste of Trinidad and Tobago and Dancel Leter of Suriname.

In the same division, Michael Grauwde earned a bronze medal in the 50-metre butterfly.

The other medals for Barbados all came from swimmers in the nine-to-ten age group. Deandre Small, the reigning Aquatic Centre International age-group champion, put in a sterling performance to earn a silver medal in the 200-metre freestyle (2:38.51), and a bronze in the 100-metre freestyle (1:14.49) and the 200-metre individual medley (3:00.18).

Alpha Sharks teammate Akili Atherley added to the medal tally, winning bronze in the 200-metre freestyle (2:38.68) and the fiercely competitive 50-metre freestyle event in a time of (33.15). The other individual medal in the girls' nine-to-ten age group was a bronze, won by Rhea Babb of the Stingrays Swim Club in the 50-metre backstroke.

Small, Atherley and Babb teamed up with Heidi Barrow to earn a bronze medal in the 200-metre medley relay, and silver in the 200-metre freestyle relay.

In the boys' nine-to-ten division, Matthew Courtis swam the race of his life to snatch silver in the boys 200-metre freestyle clocking (2:28.47). He teamed up with Tristan Ward, Christian Selby and Michael Grauwde to earn bronze in the 200-metre medley and 200-metre freestyle relays.

Team manager Tony Selby and Coach Rolando Garcia said that Barbados could feel proud of the performance of the team in a competition which served as a springboard for future CARIFTA swimmers. They noted that all the swimmers produced personal best times in most of their races and showed the kind of fighting spirit that augured well for their future in the sport.

Other members of the team included Kimberley Willoughby in eight-and-under girls; Nicholas Rose in nine-to-ten boys; Lee-Ann Rose and Danielle Clarke in 11-to-12 girls; Gabriel Grauwde and Russell Oliver in 11 to 12 boys; Stephan Barrow in 13-to-14 boys; and Michael Alexander in 15-to-17 boys. (PR/SAC)