Bermuda’s young female swimmers produced the island’s first gold medal at the Carifta Aquatics Championships late on Sunday night.

In the final event of the evening on day two, Violet Smith, Teagan Mewett, Marleigh Howes and Katherine Wheddon originally placed second behind home favourites Martinique in the girls 15-17 4 x 100 metres medley relay.

But the cheers of the home crowd soon turned to disappointment as the local team were disqualified and Bermuda were promoted to first place, the team’s time of 4min 33.17 sec giving them more than a three-second margin of victory over Cayman Islands, with Bahamas completing the podium in third.

Violet Smith, who just missed out on an individual medal when fourth in the 50 metres backstroke, expressed her emotions after finding out that the team had been awarded the medal.

“When Katherine touched the wall, I was really excited but when I saw that Martinique got disqualified, all I wanted to do was jump up and down with my team-mates,” she said. “I was just full of gratitude.”

Excitement seemed to be the overriding emotion with Teagan Mewett, who won bronze in the 200 metres breaststroke getting a second taste of life on the Carifta Games podium.

“When I saw we’d got second, I was just so excited, overwhelmed and happy,” Mewett said.

“When I saw that Martinique had been disqualified, I sort of went blank for a second and couldn’t register what was happening. I can’t believe it and I am so proud of myself and the girls that I swim with. It is just so incredible.”

Katherine Wheddon was on the anchor leg and was delighted to bring home Bermuda’s first gold at the Games.

“I’m really happy for all of us as we all deserve the world,” she said.

“To win and to medal is a great experience for all of us. We’ve all worked so hard for this and the atmosphere here was incredible. Cheering and jumping behind the blocks with my friends was an incredible experience and I am just so grateful for my team-mates.”

Marleigh Howes expressed her joy at winning a gold medal at her final Carifta Games

“I’m incredibly proud of this team,” she said. “This is my last year at Carifta and I am one of the oldest here and I’m just so thankful for the last six years and that I get to finish on such a high note with gold in the relay.”

National coach Ben Smith was proud of his winning team and feels the victory has given the squad a boost in confidence in advance of the last two days of competition.

“After a long day at the pool, everybody on the team was waiting and excited for the relays to happen,” Smith said.

“The whole team was cheering and super happy with the way that the race was going and when the girls touched in second place, everybody was celebrating and then we heard the announcement that there was a DQ for Martinique for leaving too early in a transition.

“At that point the entire team erupted realising that Bermuda had the gold. It has put a great energy through the team. Even though we’ve had the long sessions and a little bit of rain, last night I could not have been more proud of the girls.

“They put in the work, swam fast and got a result that has not just made them proud but given energy to the entire team, so I am looking forward to what lies ahead for the rest of the meet.

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