Barbados Aquatic Sports Association

CAC swim team returns with 19 medals The Barbados swim team is back home after securing 19 medals at the Central American & Caribbean Swimming Championships.

Barbados swim team captures 37 medals at CARIFTA Swim Championships | Loop Barbados The 23-member Barbados team who competed at the recently concluded CARIFTA Aquatics Championships at the Betty Kelly Kenning Swimming Complex in the Bahamas has captured 37 medals. Copping 15 gold, 15 silver and 7 bronze, the Bajan team amassed

Open Water braved the Waters of Nassau, Bahamas for the 5K competition!

Alexis Lashley finished 6th overall for 14&O with a time of 1hr15min35sec, Matthew Lashley was 10th overall in 14&O with a time of 1hr8min17sec and Brendan Gill was 12th overall in 14&O with a time of 1hr15min07secs.

We salute 🫡 them for their efforts and look forward to their future competitions.

Last Day….Last Session, ended with 8 more Medals, 4 x Gold, & 4 x Silver with Heidi Stoute gaining a Carifta Record in the 13-14 Girls 400m Freestyle with a time of 4:28.83!
Not pictured are the Golden 13-14 200m Freestyle Relay of: Amiya Harrison, Toria Alleyne, Jaiya Simmons and Heidi Stoute together with a time of 1:51.96!

Barbados completed our campaign 5th overall out of 25 countries in points and medal count with 15 Golds, and 15 Silvers and 7 Bronze, 4 x Carifta Records, 13-14 Girls Age Group Champion with Jaiya Simmons and FINA high point winner Heidi Stoute, and encouraged for the future of aquatics in Barbados.

The 2024 CARIFTA Swimming Championships are on going in the Bahamas and representing Barbados in the 13-14 boys age group is Tariq Greenidge of Hightide Stingrays Swim Club.

Tariq is swimming in his thrid CARIFTA Games event and he also represented Barbados at the Goodwill Games and CCCAN Swimming Championships.

Tariq, a member of the Hightide Stingrays Swim club, is a well accomplished all-round Barbadian swimmer. He started swimming at the age of 5 and has since then gained many accomplishments and awards.

He will be focusing on the backstroke and IM events at this year's games. His individual events will be 100m & 200m backstroke and 200m individual medley, with his favourite event being 200m backstroke.

His main goals in the sport this year is to produce best times and medal in all his events.

Best of luck to Tariq!

The 2024 CARIFTA Swimming Championships are on going in the Bahamas and representing Barbados for the first time on the team is Jada Pounder.

Jada attends Queen’s College and started swimming competitively around the age of 8 withthe Alpha Sharks Swim Club. Though she did not rank very highly, initially, her coaches thought she had potential and encouraged her to train harder and more consistently. She opted to give up Ballet and Performing Arts to train more regularly.

With each subsequent competition she climbed steadily up the ranks. Unfortunately, on Valentine's Day last year, she broke her hand and could not compete at the Qualifier for CARIFTA, 2023. She was devastated. Six weeks away from training was difficult but necessary for her to heal. She decided she would take up a few personal classes with her coach to regain her strength. Even with such a setback, Jada soon qualified for the Goodwill Swim Championships in August and traveled to Jamaica as part of the Barbados National Team. This exposure impacted her positively and her next goal was CARIFTA, 2024.

Jada is admired by many on account of her discipline. She manages both her sporting and academic goals through sacrifice, balance and hard work. Her favorite events are the 50m, 100m, 200m and 400m Freestyle races. She also trains Butterfly and recently tried the 100m and 200m races for the first time in Trinidad, last December.

She has qualified with three (3) CARIFTA “A” times and One (1) “B” time and is excited to represent her country in the Bahamas.

The 2024 CARIFTA Swimming Championships are on going in the Bahamas and representing Barbados in the 13-14 boys age group is Zachary Burke.

Zachary started swimming at the beach at age 3 in 'Jireh Learn to Swim' programme. At age 5, he transferred to the pool and has been swimming with Dolphins Swim Club Barbados from then until now. Throughout the years, he has been working steadily to improve and excel.

Locally, his competitive swimming has seen him, among other accomplishments:
- place third overall in the 8 and under boys in the Purity Primary School Swimming Championships,
- win a bronze and two silver medals at the 25th Goodwill swim meet in 2019
- awarded with the BASA Certificate of Outstanding Achievement Award in 2019 as in that same year he set a new National and Age Group Record in the eight & under boys 100m breaststroke at the BASA Long Course Nationals
- named Most Outstanding Junior Male Swimmer and Age Group Champion in 2021, 2023 in Long and Short Course Nationals
- placed 2nd in the boys in the Aquatic Centre Invitational in 2019 and 1st in the males in the same in 2022, 2023
- set new records in the 11-12 boys 50 back and 50 free at the Aquatic Centre Invitational in 2023
- named Victor Ludorum at his inter-house swimming sports in 2022 and Divisional Champion and Victor Ludorum in 2023
- named age group champion at the Powerade Secondary Schools Swimming Championships in 2022 and 2023

Regionally, he has competed in the ASATT Invitational Swimming Championships in Trinidad for the last 4 years and has placed third overall in his age groups in 8 and under (2019) and in 11-12 (2023). In 2021, he won gold in the 11-12 50 back in the PanAm Age Group Swimming Championships in Trinidad.

For the past 3 years, he has represented Barbados at CARIFTA and CCCAN, giving of his best and endeavouring to do himself and his country proud. Last year, he placed second overall in the 11-12 boys age group at CARIFTA in Curaçao.

The 2024 CARIFTA Swimming Championships are on going in the Bahamas and representing Barbados in the 13-14 boys age group is Victor Ashby.

A student at Harrison College, Victor is making his third appearance at the CARIFTA Swimming championships and is competing in the 13-14 age group in the 50m butterfly, 100m butterfly, 200m butterfly, 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle and the 100m breaststroke.

In his first CARIFTA games in 2022, he won a silver medal in 11-12 boys’ 100m butterfly in 1:06.66 minutes and silver in the 200m butterfly race.

He also participated in the in the 2022 Central America and Caribbean Swimming Championships, (CCCAN) in 2022 and placed second in the 50m butterfly in the boys’ 11-12 age group to take the silver medal. He was also a member of the boys' 11-12 4x100m Freestyle relay team that won the bronze medal.

Best wishes to Victor this year!

The 2024 CARIFTA Swimming Championships are on going in the Bahamas and representing Barbados for the first time on the team is Aliyah Greaves.

The baby of the National CARIFTA Swimming team, 11 year-old Aliyah Greaves is the only member of the team who is still in primary school and she is the Head Girl at Trinity Academy.

Aliyah who is a member of Seaside Aquatics Swim Club, started competitive swimming during the pandemic at the age of 8 after restrictions resulted in ballet and African dance going on line. In her words, "it was an opportunity to get outside".

By no means a top tier swimmer initially, it was surprising that she made the decision to give up dance in which she was excelling to focus on a sport where she was bringing up the rear. Howeverm with the dedication and commitment beyond her years, her times improved with each swim meet.

At the age of nine in 2022, Aliyah was selected to represent Barbados at the Goodwill Games in Trinidad and she copped a silver medal in the 50m backstroke. Last year was a break out year for Aliyah. She broke the girls' 9-10 age group national record in the 50m backstroke at the long course and short course nationals and she returned to the Goodwill Games and broke records in the 50m and 100m backstroke when the games came off in Jamaica.

Aliyah won three gold medals (50m freestyle, 50m backstroke and 200m backstroke) and three (100m freestyle, 400m freestyle and 200m IM) bronze medals at the BASA national long course swimming championships this year and she made CARIFTA standards in four events. She will take to the pool in her first outing at CARIFTA in the 50m backstroke, 100m backstroke 200m backstroke and the 50m freestyle.

Aliyah is also the record holder in girls' shot Put at NAPSAC and her record breaking throw was even better than that of the boys at NAPSAC.

The 2024 CARIFTA Swimming Championships are on going in the Bahamas and representing Barbados in the 13-14 girls age group is Toria Alleyne

Fourteen year-old Toria Alleyne is making her third appearance at the CARIFTA Swimming Championships and she has also represented Barbados at the Goodwill Games and CCCAN Swimming Championships.

A student at Harrison College, Toria started the 'Learn to Swim' program around the age of 8 before joining Pirates Swim Club where she is currently a member. She previously dabbled in lawn tennis and track and field but her dislike for the sun moved her to swimming where she is now marking her mark.

Toria has competed successfully in several local and regional meets from which she has a collection of medals that represent her strong showing.

Best wishes to Toria!

The 2024 CARIFTA Swimming Championships are on going in the Bahamas and representing Barbados for the first time on the team is Kamicha Johnson.

Kamicha who is a member of Blacksails Swim club, currently swims in the 11 - 12 age group and her favourite genres are, the butterfly, freestyle, backstroke and IM races. She has attended multiple regional meets including the Goodwill games over the past few years, and she has medalled at all theses events.

She attends Christ Church Foundation School and is very involved in both track and field events and the swim teams for the school. Her track specialties are distance races - 800 meter, 1500 meter and Cross Country races, and High Jump. She is last year's gold medal holder in the NAPSAC High Jump, in the 10 -12 age group.

Her hobbies are IT gaming (Fortnight, Mind Craft and RoBlox) with her school and swim club friends. She also enjoys sea bathing, riding her bicycle and socialising with friends. She likes tasty food and sweet desserts.