Thomas Cechini has won Bermuda’s first swimming medal at the 2025 Carifta Games when coming third in the 15-17 boys 1,500 metres freestyle.

The longest race in the pool at the competition with swimmers completing 30 lengths of the Olympic-distance pool, Cechini went out fast over the opening third of the race and held a narrow advantage in lane three.

That lead was eventually taken by Dominic Hilton, of the Cayman Islands, and Anthony Zachary, of Trinidad, who occupied the top two positions, but Cechini held off his nearest rival to touch the wall in 16min 48.61sec to claim bronze for Bermuda.

A couple of hours after his race, Cechini revealed his delight at picking up his first Carifta medal..

“I was seeded well to place and I had this race planned out for a long while and I executed it well,” he said.

“I’ve always swam my races by going out hard from the start. I go out hard and then die a little bit but I feel like that’s what I have to do to swim well.

The popular Cechini has had some near misses of getting on the podium in recent years and spoke of his emotions at finally securing a medal in his last year of competition before he ages out.

“It was actually a relief that I finally got a Carifta medal in my last one and I was really excited,” the 17-year-old said.

“Carifta has been so great and I’m always excited to go and spend time with the team. It’s a good team of people and we have a young team, so it’s great to be a part of it.”

It was a good hour for Bermuda’s Carifta Games representatives, with Cechini’s medal coming just over an hour after Cameron Adkins picked up a silver medal on the track in the under-17 boys 1,500m.

In the other swimming finals with Bermuda representation on Saturday night, Marleigh Howes finished sixth in the 15-17 girls 100 metres butterfly and Sylvia Lim finished eighth in the 11-12 girls 50 metres backstroke.