Bermuda have named a squad of 18 athletes to compete in the Carifta Swimming Championships in Jamaica.This year’s team doubles the size of the squad that took to the pool at the Championships in Bahamas 12 months ago.Included in the squad is Junior Male Athlete of the Year Jesse Washington, who won a raft of medals at last year’s Championships, Shannon Hassell, who claimed three medals in the Bahamas, and Vaughn Rowse, who will become Bermuda’s first swimmer to compete in the Carifta open water 5K.Also qualifying for the Championships, to be held from March 30 to April 3, are Dejan Wellman, 17, (Harbour), Sophie Froud, 17, (Sharks), Philip Hagen (16), (Sharks), Shannon Botelho, 14, (Sharks), Alex McCallum, 14, (Harbour), Vanessa Esposito, 14, (Harbour), (Sharks), Madelyn Moore, 12, (Sharks), Megan Lau, 12, (Dolphins), Josh Irvine, 13 (Dolphins). Evan Farrow, 12, (Dolphins), Ethan Daley, 11, (Sharks), Alex Pilgrim, 11, (Harbour), Emma Harvey, 11, (Harbour), Ashley Irby, 11, (Harbour), Alyssa Paynter, 11, (Harbour).Accompanying the team to Jamaica will be national coaches Ben Smith and Richard Goodwin, team manager Diane Moore, athletic trainer and massage therapist Dominique Nannette, and team photographer and chaperone Doug Patterson.Coach Smith said: “We’re hopeful that we can surpass our strong result from last year that saw a record medal haul.“We have added some very strong young talent to the team this year and we hope to get some great results from these inexperienced Carifta competitors.”Bermuda sent a team of nine to last year’s Championships, winning 12 medals including six golds.The Island’s young swimmers put the final touches to their preparations for the Championships with some encouraging times in a meet at the BASA pool at the weekend.Records were broken, personal bests were set and the feel-good factor was high for the competitors who hope to make Bermuda proud in Jamaica.Among those taking to the water was Maddie Moore who continues to improve her times, breaking the 100-metre Individual Medley record.Moore’s time of one minute and 15.66 seconds beat the previous best of 1:16.17 set by Ashley Yearwood in 2007.Elan Daley also returned to the Island and was able to set a new record in the 50-metre backstroke with a time of 43.87 seconds, which breaks the previous record set by her Sharks teammate Jessica Bruton last June.Another record to fall was the 15 to 16 4x50-metre freestyle by the Sharks team that featured two swimmers from the 13 to 14 age group.Jesse Washington and Shannon Botelho joined 15-year-old Ferdinand Arnold and Philip Hagen in shattering the record in a time of 1:49.01.Harbour Swimming Club girls' team of Alyssa Paynter, Sophie Clare, Emma Harvey and Ashley Irby also set a new record in the 4x50-metre freestyle relay.