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Aitken takes gold tally to four

Kiera Aitken

Kiera Aitken grabbed two more gold medals at the Caribbean Island Swimming Championships (CISC) in Cuba at the weekend.

Aitken, who claimed four golds and a silver overall, saved her best until the last day of the competition winning both the 18 and over 200 metres backstroke in two minutes, 20 seconds and the 100 metres freestyle in 58.33 seconds on Saturday.

Bermuda won 17 medals overall – their best ever performance at the CISCs.

Lisa Blackburn also added another gold, this time in the girls' 18 and over 200 metres breaststroke. Rebecca Sharpe also continued to push Aitken as she once again finished second to her team-mate by snatching silver in the 200 metres backstroke in a time of 2:25.38.

After an impressive week, Morgan Hopkins was finally able to reach the podium, winning a bronze in the girls 15 to 17 200 metres breaststroke in a time of 2:57.00.

Roy-Allan Burch narrowly missed out on a medal as he placed fourth in the signature event, the boys 18 and over 50 metres freestyle in a time of 53.41.

Emma Franklin endured the same fate in the girls' 13 and14 100 metres backstroke in a time of 1:13.61. She also swam in the final of the 100 metres freestyle and placed eighth in a time of 1:08.45.

Other finalists on Saturday were Eleanor Gardner in the girls' 18 and over 100 metres freestyle, placing eighth in a time of 1:04.26 and Julian Fletcher in the boys' 18 and over 200 metres breaststroke, clocking a time of 2:37.67 for seventh place.

In the final event of the night, the quartet of Rebecca Sharpe, Lisa Blackburn, Kiera Aitken and Eleanor Gardner won bronze in the 4 x 100 metres freestyle relay in a time of 4:09.65, which set a new Bermuda Open record.

Bermuda national team coach Ben Smith, said: "The Caribbean Island Swimming Championships were a great success for our swimmers and bodes very well for the upcoming CAC Games in Puerto Rico in a couple of weeks.

"When it was all said and done, Bermuda finished with 17 medals (seven gold, four silver and six bronze), the best ever medal result at these Championships.

"Individually, Kiera (four gold and one bronze) and Lisa (three gold and one silver) led the way, and they also combined with Rebecca and Eleanor to win a silver and a bronze in the relay."