Bermuda’s swimmers produced one of the Island’s best showings at the Carifta Swimming Championships in Bahamas at the weekend.The Island’s nine-member team captured a remarkable 12 medals — that included six gold — and established 16 age group records, one overall national open record and 51 personal bests in the pool.Leading the Island’s charge was the irrepressible Jesse Washington with a staggering seven medals in only his second appearance at the regional swim meet.The Sandys Middle School student won gold medals in the 11-12 boys 100 metre freestyle, 200 metre freestyle, 100 metre butterfly, 50 metre butterfly and 50 metre freestyle disciplines.He also won the silver medal in the 50 metre backstroke and a bronze medal in the 400 metre freestyle and established 12 national records and personal bests in every event he competed in to be crowned the champion in his respective age group.It is the first time a local swimmer has won their age group at this swim meet.“I was just going all out this year and I was somewhat surprised while I was winning medals,” Washington said. “I think I did pretty good and this experience was better than last year.”Also winning multiple medals was Saltus Grammar School’s Shannon Hassell who captured a full set (gold, silver and bronze) competing in the 11-12 girls age group. Hassell won the gold in the 200 metre backstroke, silver in the 100m backstroke and bronze in the 50 metre backstroke and also set multiple personal bests.“I was surprised about how good it went and I’m happy I got a gold, silver and bronze,” she said. “It was very tough, but I’m very happy with my performances.”Others standing on the podium at the regional swim meet were Benedict Parfit and Ashley Yearwood.Parfitt won the silver medal n the 15-17 boys 50 metre freestyle while Yearwood won the bronze medal in the 15-17 girls 50 metre freestyle in her final Carifta Swimming Championships appearance.“This was my last year and I was really excited to win a medal,” Yearwood said. “I really wanted this medal and it was great to win it.“The competition was very hard because everyone here was doing best times.”Parfitt said: “This was my first medal at this swim meet and I am very happy to win it, it was about time.“We had really small team with only nine people, but it was very strong and performed very well.”Assistant national coach, Ben Smith, said the team’s success in the Caribbean far exceeded his expectations.”We most definitely exceeded expectations and the atmosphere here in Bahamas was unbelievable, I wish Bermuda could see what’s been laid out for this competition,” he said. “The atmosphere has been electric and our guys fed off of it as each event we got faster and it was great to watch.“We brought one of our smallest teams but obviously they have done some really big things, so it was really good and I’m certainly delighted. This is one of the best results we’ve had by far from swimming at this swim meet.”Smith reserved special mention for the duo of Washington and Hassell who captured the lion’s share of Bermuda’s medals in Bahamas.“Seeing Shannon and Jesse showing what we have for the future was really exciting and everybody talked about what they did,” he said. “Jesse is in line with a lot of the other top guys and everything that he did in this meet (records and medals) went through the moon. This kid definitely has a bright future.”Smith said Bermuda as a whole should be proud of the team’s strong showing in the Caribbean.“These kids represented Bermuda to the highest level and we should definitely be proud of their accomplishments,” he added. “They were very close -knit throughout the competition and supported and cheered each other and the whole country should be proud of these children.”Most people don’t know what goes into swimming to get to this point. These guys have been training eight times per week most times at 6am rain, blow or shine for two to three hours. They have also sacrificed their weekends and all of their time to get to a meet like this and perform the way they have. It was most definitely worth all the sacrifice.”