Blackburn grabs gold in Puerto Rico
Bermuda swimmer Lisa Blackburn has won a gold medal at the Caribbean Championships in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico.Blackburn, who had already claimed a silver medal at the championships, set a new national record in the girls’ 18 and over 200 metre individual medley in a time of two minutes, 25.56 seconds on Tuesday.Coach Ben Smith said: “Lisa was our last swimmer for the night and definitely saved the best for last.”Ashley Yearwood finished sixth in the girls’ 15-17 50 metres freestyle final, while Nicholas Patterson finished eighth in the boys’ 15-17 200m butterfly final.n Two new Bermuda relay records were set at last weekend’s Sportseller Junior National Swimming Championships at the BASA Pool.In the boys’ eight and under category, Harbour Swim team’s Finn Moseley, Jack Harvey, Nick Pilgrim and Jack Thorpe set a new quickest time in the 100 metre medley.Moseley, Harvey, Thorpe and Matthew Nagal then achieved a new record in the boys’ 100m freestyle record at Saturday’s 12 and under championships.In the individual events, which were limited to three swims, Emma Harvey took three first places in the girls’ nine and 10 age group, closely followed by Ashley Irby who had two firsts and a second.Alex Pilgrim managed two firsts and a second in the boys’ nine and 10 age group. In the older 11 and 12 girls’ age group, Shannon Hassell had two firsts and a second, whereas Tyler Smith took two firsts and a third in the boys.For the Sharks Juniors, Isabelle Dutranoit swam her way to two personal best times.Seven Sharks juniors earned three personal bests in their events Holly Bruton, Jalen Currin, Matthew Daly, Logan Henschke, Matthew Meszoly, Elsa Stevenson and Keegan Woolley. Elan Daley, Lucie Gariepy, Jessyka Haak, Freya Kermode, Dairia Smith and Joshua Thorne also set two personal bests each.Swimmers from the Dolphin Swim Team also performed impressively with Mackenzy Cooper setting three personal bests, which included smashing his old 200m individual medley time by 15.96 seconds.Josh Irvine reclaimed his Bermuda best standard after moving up to the 11-12 age group in the 50m butterfly, knocking 2.33 seconds off his previous best from earlier this season.In the eight and under category, Neil Budge captured the highest points for the boys and Genevieve Lau achieved the highest points for the girls.The Dolphin Swim Team will host the final meet of the season next month.