JAMAICA CONCLUDE BEST CCCAN IN OVER 20 YEARS

When the Central and American and Caribbean Swimming Championships came to an end tonight, Jamaica had added 2 Gold and 1 Silver to complete their best performance at that level in over 20 years. Jamaica National Swim Team won an impressive 9 Gold, 2 Silver and 6 Bronze Medals to finish in 5^th place in the Medal standings. In the overall points standings, Jamaica finished in 7^th place scoring 194 points. Mexico won the championship by scoring 1296.5, Venezuela was second with 1049.5, and Columbia third with 435 points. Twenty-nine countries participated in the competition. Although the majority of the medals were won in the 18 and Over Age Group, there were a many impressive performances in the younger age groups with 5 Jamaican age group records being broken.

As expected, Janelle Atkinson increased her personal medal haul to 6 Gold, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze when she won the 18 and Over 400 M Freestyle, swimming 4:13.11 smashing Rubi Cisneros (Mexico) CCCAN Championship record (4:32.58). With this performance, Atkinson moved from 76^th to a tie for 14^th with Germany’s Hannah Stockbauer in the Swimnews world rankings.

Angela Chuck and Tamara Swaby took the Gold and Silver in an exciting finish to the 18 and Over 50 M Freestyle. Winning the event, Angela Chuck swam a personal best time of 27.18 that equaled Jamaica’s National Record and set a new CCCAN Record. Tamara Swaby needed a personal best time of 27.55 to take the Silver away from pre race favorite Solimar Mojica from Puerto Rico (27.62). In the male 50 M Freestyle, Ramon James swam 24.51 to place 6^th. Columbia’s Camilo Becerra won the event in 23.19.

Todd Johnson, who has improved dramatically over the last 12 months, swam a personal best time of 1:04.31 in the 13-14 100 M Backstroke to place a close 4^th behind the bronze medallist Rafael Subirats from Columbia who swam 1:03.29. Nicholas Bovell won the event in a CCCAN record time of 59.81 with Venezuela’s Albert Subirats second (1:02.95).

Jevon Atkinson placed 8^th in the Male 15-17 100 M Backstroke swimming 1:03.74, just off his personal best swum in the preliminary heats. In the female 13-14 100 M Backstroke, Allison Bardowell swam 1:12.32 to place 8^th.

Achievement awards were given to the swimmer in each age group who had the best performance based on the LEN Points Rating System. Len points provide a way of comparing a swimmers time to the World Record for that particular event at the last Olympic Games. Janelle Atkinson was awarded the achievement award for the 18 and Over Age Group for scoring 954 LEN points with her 400 M Freestyle performance (4:13.11).

Final Points Standing:

Team  Rankings Through Event 120

Combined - All Ages

     PL   ID         Team Name-                    Abbrev              Points 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

      1     504      MEXICO                                                MEX               1296.50     

      2     506      VENEZUELA                                         VEN                1049.50     

      3     503      COLOMBIA                                          COL                  435.00        

      4     502      PUERTO RICO                                      PUR                 346.00        

      5     505      REPUBLICA DOMINICANA              DOM                284.00        

      6     516      TRINIDAD Y TOBAGO                        TYT                 261.50     

      8     512      COSTA RICA                                         CRC                 181.00        

      9     511      GUATEMALA                                        GUA                 173.00        

     10     509      CUBA                                                     CUB                 160.00        

     11     513      BARBADOS                                          BAR                 119.00        

     12     508      HONDURAS                                         HON                   97.00        

     13     510      EL SALVADOR                                    ESA                    87.00        

     14     507      PANAMA                                               PAN                   60.00        

     15     515      ISLAS VIRGENES                                ISV                    57.50      

     16     514      ANTILLAS HOLANDESAS                 AHO                  53.00        

     17     518      SURINAM                                             SUR                   28.00        

     18     519      NICARAGUA                                        NIC                    20.00        

     19     520      BERMUDAS                                         BER                   10.00        

     20     521      ARUBA                                                  ARU                     7.00        

     21     523      ST. LUCIA                                             LCA                     5.00        

     22     517      GRENADA                                            GRA                     1.00        

The team returns home on Air Jamaica Express’s flight from Santo Domingo landing at Tinson Pen at 5:30 PM. Air Jamaica Express is a major sponsor of the National Swim Team.

July 8, 2001