Bermuda added five more medals to the three they captured on Saturday at the Carifta Swimming Championships in Wildey, Barbados, yesterday.

Marleigh Howes clinched gold in the 13 to 14 200 metres freestyle, while Sam Williamson did likewise in the 15-17 400 individual medley. Myeisha Sharrieff won bronze in the 100 backstroke, Violet Smith claimed silver in the 11 to 12 girls 100 backstroke and the boys 4x100 medley relay team wrapped up the day with another bronze.

“I imagined winning before my race, I had placed fourth in the prelims and didn’t think I would actually win until I got into the race,” said Howes. “I tried to stay with them on the first 50 [metres], which I did and then on the third lap and fourth lap I just gave it all I had left. In the end it felt so amazing to finally win a medal.”

Smith added a another silver in the 100 metres backstroke to the 50 metres backstroke silver medal she won on Saturday.

“During my 50 back I felt really tired during the end but then I tried to push my way through to get a spot in second,” she said. “For the 100 back I tried to go as fast as I could and work on my flip turns, and for the last 15 metres I tried to push it as much as I could to try to catch up to first but still came in second.”

Sharrieff was happy to win a medal on her debut.

“I’m very proud of myself as it is my first Carifta,” she said.

Three medals came Bermuda’s way on the opening day of competition.

Leading the charge was Williamson, who secured the island’s first medal after winning the boys 15 to 17 200 breaststroke in 2:25.44.

Smith built on the solid foundation by earning the silver medal in the girls 11 to 12 50 backstroke with a time of 33.24.

The boys 15 to 17 4 x100 metres freestyle relay team of Finn Moseley, Flynn Watson-Brown, Brandon Adkins and Williamson kept the momentum going by claiming the bronze medal in 3:38.65 to cap a fruitful day for the island’s contingent.

“It was awesome to start off the Carifta Championships with Sam Williamson doing the 200 metres breaststroke,” Ben Smith, the Bermuda coach, told The Royal Gazette.

“For the first three laps, it was quite a tight race. Then on the final lap it was ‘go time’, and you could tell he just dropped a gear with the intention of coming back with the gold medal. It was really exciting and it put energy through the team.”

Smith added: “Right after that, having Violet Smith come really close to getting our second gold medal by coming up with the silver medal was obviously another awesome experience for the team.

“In the 15 to 17 boys freestyle relay, Sam Williamson put in an extra burst in his last 15 metres to make sure we got the bronze to finish off the night.

“It was electric. The team is excited and we are looking forward to what we are going to do in day two.“

The championships, which run until Wednesday, are being held for the first time in two years, having been cancelled in 2020 and 2021 because of the global pandemic.