National aquatics coach Ben Smith said he was delighted with the performances of Bermuda’s swimming contingent at the recently completed Carifta Games in Barbados, although the team came back with only one medal.The Games were special for many of the young swimmers as the annual spectacle presented their first real international challenge.Smith, who oversaw preparations for the Games that included a training camp in Florida, said that although the medal count wasn’t as high as in previous years the squad showed a lot of promise for the future.“This Carifta team did a great job in developing for the future,” said Smith. “With so many swimmers making this their first time at Carifta we figured there would be growing pains.“I believe that the overseas training camp that we had in Florida leading into Carifta had a huge positive effect on this team.“They trained for five to six hours per day for a week and I worked on their physical as well as mental preparations.“This team was very well behaved with a positive and upbeat atmosphere for the whole trip. Overall the amount of personal best times that were swam each day is the indicator of this team having a successful meet.“You always plan to have a successful team and you hope to have your team focused on reaching finals and medals but with a young team you are never sure what to expect.”Ashley Yearwood won the Island’s lone medal, a bronze, on the final day of competition in the 15-17 50 metres freestyle, rounding off a hugely encouraging Games and bouncing back from a shoulder injury that saw her sidelined for a long period.Among the other swimmers to make a splash in the pool were Nick Patterson, Shannon Hassell, Mitch Gariepy and Jesse Washington.“Nick (Patterson) has been training at a very high level for the year since the last Carifta in looking for the results that he achieved at the meet,” said Smith.“The surprises came from our young age group, where Shannon Hassell seemed to be in a zone once she stepped on the blocks.“She was the last swimmer to qualify and was forced to swim some off events because other team-mates had faster times but she raced hard in every event we entered her in.“Mitch Gariepy has been a name many have heard lots over the last couple of years because of his attack on the records.“He was very impressive in his first Carifta against some swimmers twice his size.“The Jesse Washington story is interesting and satisfying for us because last year he was a junior level swimmer who would get ill from nerves during meets.“The Carifta atmosphere with the drums, cow bells and horns seemed to be just the music he needed to hear.“He was racing the best swimmers in the Caribbean but his only focus was beating them. He left Bermuda at the ‘A’ standard level and now he is at the quad level. It is exciting to think he has another year in this age group and has already placed fourth at this level.“I think that it is important that we understand how fast this meet was and how good our swimmers did in the event.“Many of our swimmers would match up well against the best swimmers in Canada; Jesse and Mitch would be the number one swimmers in Canada in many events and Nick Patterson would be top five.“Of course, we have to give our biggest congratulations to Ashley Yearwood for winning the medal.”“After sitting out a year with her shoulder it was great to see her back. With pain in the shoulder slowing her up, it showed her determination that she took the medal in the 50 free which can be the hardest event to place in.”