Bermuda Win 2 More Medals In Costa Rica
Bermuda swimmers continue to impress at the 2013 Central American and Caribbean Amateur Swimming Championships in Costa Rica, with Lisa Blackburn capturing her second gold medal of the games when she touched the wall first in the 200m breaststroke, and Rebecca Sharpe picked up the bronze medal in the 100m backstroke.
National Swimming Coach Mr. Ben Smith said, “This morning’s session saw the team look a little flat in the heats. With a combination of no seats at the finals for the previous night and some adjusting to altitude the swimmers were tired and their times were a little off. Several of the team did however reach the finals in several events and will hope to bounce back after a quick lunch and some rest.”
“In the morning session Shannon Hassell swam just outside her Personal Best [PB] and is the first alternate for the finals. Jesse Washington missed the finals by one place in both the 200 free and 100 fly. Andrew Beveridge was just off his PB’s in the 200 free and 100 back and was unable to reach the finals in those events.
“Ashley Yearwood and Rebecca Sharpe cruised into the 100 back finals for tonight as did Rebecca Heyliger and Lisa Blackburn in the 100 fly finals. Ashley Irby had a solid swim but was unable to set the pace that she needed to repeat the PB she just set at the Coral Springs Invitational recently. We will also see Lisa and Stephanie in the 200 breaststroke tonight that went straight to finals this morning.
“The evening session started with us getting the good news that someone had scratched from the 200 free which meant Shannon was moved into the finals. She took the opportunity to lower her PB to 2:18.07. Stephanie and Rebecca Heyliger both competed in the 18 and Over 200 free and finished 7th and 8th respectively.
“Rebecca Sharpe and Ashley Yearwood were both in the 100 back finals and both were primed for a good race. Rebecca swam strong throughout and was able to capture the bronze medal while Ashley never seemed to get going. After the race was complete we found out that Ashley had been bothered by her ongoing shoulder injury and could not push herself in the event.”
“Rebecca Heyliger and Lisa Blackburn were next in the 100 fly where Rebecca lowered her PB again to finish 7th with Lisa finishing in 8th. Lisa followed her fly with the 200 breast as the last event for the evening. She continued to gather hardware as she pulled away from the field on the second 100 and was able to capture her second gold of the championships. Day 3 will be another busy one and we hope to see more personal bests and more swimmers in the finals.”
