Olympian Bradley Ally won gold in the men’s 400 metres individual medley at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico yesterday evening to take the official Barbados tally to two.Ally led from start to finish, touching the pad in four minutes 21. 49 seconds, shattering his own record of 4:22.86 set at the 2006 Games in Colombia. Mexicans Ezequiel Trujillo Aviles (4:22.05) and Omar Enriquez Tenorio (4:25.39) took the silver and bronze medals, respectively.NATIONSPORT caught up with emotional chef de mission Craig Archer moments after the race.“Bradley just won the gold in a CAC Games record time in the 400IM,” Archer said.“It means a lot to me and I hope it means a lot to Barbadians to say we have a CAC record time. He is a world-class swimmer. He is a tremendous athlete. I followed his progress since Pan Am Games in 2003 when he was just 17 years old.”Archer was at the Aquatic Centre and described the action.“It was close for the first two legs, but he pulled away on the breaststroke, which is obviously his pet [event]. He had about a two second-lead going into the final 100 metres freestyle.“The guy in lane three was coming at him and he closed the gap. I was on the far side and it looked like he was being overtaken. He had almost half a body-length lead in the breaststroke and he looked comfortable, but the guy came at him strong. I was holding my breath,” Archer said.The chef was also full of praise for Nicky Neckles who won Barbados’ first medal when he took silver in the 100m breaststroke on Sunday night. Neckles, 31, had retired from international swimming back in 2007 after narrowly failing to get a medal at the Pan Am Games, but has since returned to competition.“For Nicky Neckles to win a silver medal was fantastic. He now has one of each colour to add to the bronze he won in 2002 and the gold in 2006. He is just an incredible athlete. He has won more medals at CAC than any other Barbadian athlete. Hopefully, this is the start of good things in the pool and here in Mayaguez.The women’s 4×200 metres relay team of Lee-Ann Rose, Amara Gibbs, Deandre Small and Zabrina Holder also set a national record of 8:59.79, placing fifth in Sunday’s final.Barbados are also assured of at least a bronze medal in the women’s squash singles. Karen Meakins, the island’s No 1 player won her first round match against Trinidadian Nakita Poon 11-4, 11-2, 11-5 in Bogota, Colombia. Archer said team manager Orson Simpson informed him Meakins had also defeated the No 4 seed and advanced to the semi-finals. She was one of three players winning their first round matches. Shawn Simpson beat Francisco Valecillo of Venezuela 11-8, 11-5, 11-6 and Cheri-Ann Parris knocked out Jamaica’s Melissa Lue 11-2, 11-7, 11-4. However, Bryant Cumberbatch went down 11-7, 11-4, 11-8 to El Salvador’s Josue Recinos.In other results, 17-year-old judoka Dario Taylor finished fourth in the 100+kg category. After winning his first round match, Taylor advanced to the semi-finals, but lost that and the third place match.Archer commended the teenager for his performance. He said the team continued to be plagued by logistical problems and some of the athletes still had not received their luggage.
