Swimmers medal at Goodwill Games

A jubilant St Lucia National Team returned from the XIX Goodwill Games in Barbados over the weekend with a total of nine medals.

Competing against the teams from Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago, Guyana and Barbados, the St Lucians put up a competitive show for their first appearance at these games and has been invited to participate in the 2014 Games in Suriname.

For the St Lucians, Thalia Bergasse won two medals with a silver in 50 m back and bronze in the 100 m back.

Abbie Pultie was also a silver medalist in 50 m breast and earned a bronze in the 100 m breast.

Nicholas Mc Lennon captured a silver medal in 100 m back, Jayhan Odlum- Smith took a bronze in the 100 m free and Terrell Monplaisir was also a bronze medalist in the 100 m breast.

The other two medals were in the boys 9-10 400 m medley relay and boys 11-12 200 m free relay. Many of the swimmers also posted personal bests for the meet.

Head Coach Brad Worrell expressed the view: “This meet created a great opportunity for our younger, less experienced swimmers to be exposed to a higher level of competition. It has been a great motivator for our kids and they all had a wide range of improvements over all age groups.”

Team manager Carol Mangal was also full of praise of the teams’ enthusiasm and discipline.

Following is the final medal count and point standings: Suriname, 57 gold, 35 silver, 41 bronze (1514 pts); Barbados, 42 gold, 26 silver, 30 bronze (1289 pts); Trinidad & Tobago, 21 gold, 54 silver, 38 bronze (1365 pts); St Lucia National Team, three silver, six bronze (520 pts); Guyana, two silver, six bronze (142 pts).