AARON SIEWLAL, Nikoli Blackman and two boys relay teams added gold medals to TT’s overall count when the 2023 Carifta Aquatic Championships continued at the Korsou Sports Centre and Pool, Curacao on Saturday night.

TT are third in the medal standings with 41 medals – 16 gold, 12 silver and 13 bronze.

Bahamas are showing their class at the meet with 65 medals (28 gold, 21 silver, 16 bronze) and Cayman Islands are in second place with 41 medals (20 gold, 12 silver, nine bronze). In the points standings, Bahamas have 863 points, Cayman Islands have 572 points and TT are third with 407 points.

Siewlal dominated the field in the boys 11-12 200-metre butterfly event taking gold easily in two minutes, 32.61 seconds (2:32.61). Kaylan Abraham of Bahamas was a distant second in 2:41.60 and Jude Jerome of Haiti took bronze in 2:43.04.

Blackman continued to be one of the stars of the meet snatching gold in the boys 15-17 freestyle 100m final in 50.07 seconds. James Allison of Cayman Islands was second in 50.99 and Marvin Johnson of Bahamas rounded off the top three in 51.66. Zarek Wilson of TT, who is having a strong showing at the meet, missed out on a medal finishing fourth in 51.53.

In the relays, which brought an end to action on day three, TT copped two gold medals.

The quartet of Liam Roberts, Darren Belfon, Isaiah Alexander and Liam Carrington earned gold in the boys 13-14 freestyle 4x200m finals in a time of 8:34.53 to add 18 points to the TT tally. Bahamas finished second in 8:41.02 and Martinique ended third in 8:46.01.

In the boys 15-17 freestyle 4x200m finals, TT won their second relay gold medal of the night. Blackman, Giovanni Rivas, Zachary Anthony and Wilson won in 7:58.66, Bahamas snatched silver in 8:03.32 and Cayman Islands grabbed bronze in 8:04.22.

Carrington was one of the silver medallists for TT. It was a close finish between Carrington and St Lucian Antoine Destang in the boys 13-14 individual medley (IM) 200m event. Destang touched the wall in 2:13.02, Carrington was just behind in 2:13.15 and Lucas Patron of Martinique was third in 2:20.24.

Carrington grabbed another silver in 53.54 in the boys 13-14 freestyle 100m final in 53.54. Destang won another gold medal in 52.59 and Haitian swimmer Christian Jerome got bronze in 53.82.

Blackman added to his medal count with a second place finish in the boys 15-17 IM 200m event. Nigel Forbes of Bahamas took gold in 2:06.72 and his team-mate Emmanuel Gadson got bronze in 2:12.42.

Blackman had a busy night as he got silver in the boys 15-17 breaststroke 50m event in 29.88. Braynsly Dirksz of Aruba won gold in 29.02 and Caden Wells of Bahamas was third in 30.46.

TT had an impressive showing in the boys 13-14 breaststroke 50m event as Roberts ended with silver in 30.79 and Anpherne Bernard snatched bronze in 31.75. Tristen Hepburn of Bahamas won gold by the narrowest of margins with a time of 30.78.

Other than Bernard, Taylor Marchan, Christiano Rivas and Anthony got bronze medals for TT.

Marchan was third in the girls 11-12 IM 200m e