Veteran Blackburn scoops second gold
Veteran Lisa Blackburn picked up her second gold — and third medal so far — as Bermuda’s swimmers earned two more medals on day two of the Central American and Caribbean Amateur Swimming Confederation in Costa Rica last night.Blackburn, who won a gold (100 breaststroke) and silver (200 individual medley) on the opening day on Monday, closed out the second night of finals by winning the last event, the 200 metres breaststroke when she pulled away from the field in the second 100 metres to capture another gold. Earlier, Rebecca Sharpe added to Bermuda’s medal haul by taking the bronze in the 100 metres backstroke final.Also winning medals for Bermuda on Monday were Stephanie Myles with a bronze in the 800 metres freestyle and Shannon Hassell the silver in the 100 metres backstroke.The evening of finals on day two started with Hassell getting a ticket into the 200 metres freestyle final when another swimmer pulled out. Hassell had secured the first alternate spot for the final during the morning heats when she swam just outside her personal best time. In the final Hassell took the opportunity to lower her PB to 2:18.07 though she finished outside the medal places.Myles and Rebecca Heyliger both competed in the 18 and over 200 metres freestyle final and finished seventh and eighth respectively. Ashley Yearwood joined Sharpe in the 100 back final and both were primed for a good race, with Sharpe capturing the bronze while Yearwood struggled to get into a rhythm. It was later discovered that she was hampered by an ongoing shoulder injury and could not push herself.Blackburn and Rebecca Heyliger both competed in the 100 metres butterfly final where Heyliger lowered her PB again in finishing seventh while Blackburn was eighth.In the morning session Jesse Washington missed qualifying for the finals of the 200 metres freestyle and 100 metres butterfly by just one place in each event while Andrew Beveridge was just off his PBs in the 200 free and 100 back as he missed the finals in those events. Ashley Yearwood and Rebecca Sharpe cruised into the 100 back finals as did Heyliger and Blackburn in the 100 fly. Ashley Irby had a solid swim but was unable to set the pace that she needed to repeat the PB she just set at the Coral Springs Invitational recently.“This morning’s session saw the team look a little flat in the heats,” said national coach Ben Smith after the morning events. “With a combination of no seats at the finals for the previous night and some adjusting to altitude the swimmers were tired and their times were a little off.“Day three will be another busy one and we hope to see more personal bests and more swimmers in the finals.”Medals (6)Day 1: Lisa Blackburn (gold in 100m breaststroke, silver in 200 IM); Stephanie Myles (bronze in 800m freestyle); Shannon Hassell (silver in 100m backstroke).Day 2: Lisa Blackburn (gold in 200m breaststroke); Rebecca Sharpe (bronze in 100m backstroke).