Bermuda’s 17-member swimming team returned late last night with 24 medals from the Carifta Championships in Barbados, led by six individual medals each by Emma Harvey and Maddie Moore.

Sports Minister Patricia Gordon-Pamplin was there to meet the team and praised them for their performances, which included 33 new records in total, 27 age group and six national records.

“On behalf of the Government and people of Bermuda we are so immensely proud of the performances that each and every one of these athletes had while they were at this latest Carifta Games,” she said.

“We hauled a total of 24 medals and I know that each of these athletes left everything in the pool, they didn’t hold anything back or save anything for next time. We have so many athletes here who have so many medals that I’m wondering if they are going to have a sore neck by the time they get home.

“But that is what happens with the level of dedication, the level of commitment and the level of training and good coaching ... listening, discipline, all attributes of good character building which we’ve seen with each and every one of these athletes.”

Moore, 14, took her haul to 16 medals in three Cariftas, winning three gold, two silver and one bronze and then three more medals (two silver and a bronze) with the girls 13-14 relay team which included Megan Lau, Harvey and Ashley Irby.

“I can definitely get better and that’s what I’m going to work towards for next year,” Moore promised as she looks forward to more success. The 50 metres freestyle is her favourite event “but my 100 [free] is coming along”, she assured.

“The competition was a lot tougher this year but I was really proud of my results. It’s a really good opportunity for us in international competition. I’m making a lot of friends which is great.”

Harvey brought home a gold, two silver and three bronze and she, like Moore, believes there is more to come. “Hopefully I can continue to improve but where I am now is a great spot and in this Carifta I reached my potential and I’m really happy with my performances,” she said.

Vanessa Esposito won two bronze medals, Tyler Mazurek a silver and two bronze and Shannon Hassell a silver and a bronze. Bermuda won a total of four gold, eight silver and ten bronze medals in the pool before finishing the competition with a gold (Harvey) and a bronze (Mazurek) in the open water competition. The 24 medals surpassed the 22 medals won last year in Aruba.

“We’re going to give them a couple days off, they’ll rest for a little bit and then they’ll get right back to it,” Ben Smith, the team’s coach, said. “The thing about swimming is you’ve got to do a lot of training to get these results and obviously the training is paying off.”