By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

THE host country finished third at the 2023 CARIFTA Triathlon and Aquathlon Championships this past weekend at Goodman’s Bay.

The Bahamas accomplished a much better showing at home following last year’s fifth place finish in Bermuda. Barbados repeated as champions once again, earning a first place finish at the event.

Second place went to last year’s host country Bermuda. Trinidad and Tobago ended the two-day championships in fourth for the second straight year, meanwhile, Aruba dropped down to fifth overall.

Day one - Triathlon

On Saturday, the Menzies brothers both brought home the first set of medals for Team Bahamas. Lauchlan Menzies captured a gold medal finish in the male 11-12 division. The 12-year-old competed in a trio of events, including a 200m swim, 5 kilometre (km) biking, and 1.5k run. The younger brother finished the events with an overall time of 21:15. In the swimming portion of the event, he had the third best time with 5:42.

Although he appeared winded after competing in multiple events, L Menzies was excited about the win at home.

“It feels amazing because I have never done that. The last CARIFTA I did, I came 13th…my favourite part was the bike because that’s the part where I dropped people the most. For the swim, I came out of the water third which was one of my strongest parts and then the run someone hunted me down but I outran him at the end,” Menzies said.

Malcolm Menzies, his older brother, placed second for the second consecutive year in the 13-15 division of the male’s triathlon.

Bermuda’s Jackson Langley completed the trio of events, including a 400m swim, 10km bike and 2.5k run with a time of 32:56.

Menzies stopped the clock at 33:28 ahead of Bermuda’s Ollie Hayward who placed third. The silver medallist finished first in the swimming portion of the event, emerging from the water first in 6:25. He also turned in a good showing for the 10km biking which he completed second in 16:00. He talked about how it felt to earn the silver medal for The Bahamas once again.

“It was good to come out with a silver medal in front of all my family and friends. The swim put me in a great position but Langley is insane at running so I could not take him, but overall it felt great,” he said.

Ralph Wood was one of two competitors in the men’s 21 and under triathlon. He finished the event behind Trinidad and Tobago’s Liam McLaughlin. Wood ended the 750m swim, 20km bike and 5k run with a time of 1:19:09.

Erin Pritchard, who finished second in the 13-15 division last year, secured a bronze medal in the women’s 16-19 division of the triathlon. She wrapped up her 750m swim, 20km bike, and 5k run in 1:14:39.

Day two - Aquathlon

Yesterday, Team Bahamas added more medals to their total to earn the third place position at the championships.

Grace Farrington earned a bronze medal in the 16-19 division of the women’s aquathlon. Farrington finished her 1,000m swim and 5k run with a time of 40:51. She finished behind Isis Gaskin from Barbados and Nina James of Grenada. The newest bronze medallist got out of the water first after clocking 17:05 to complete the swimming portion of the aquathlon. She completed her run with the fourth best time of 23:25.

She was overwhelmed as she talked about the bronze medal finish.

“It feels really good, this was my first ever CARIFTA Triathlon and Aquathlon Championships so I just wanted to go out and do my best. I am a past CARIFTA swimmer so I just wanted to push myself and knew that I could do well,” Farrington said.

On day two of the championships, Wood came second in the 21 and under aquathlon. He completed the event with a time of 45:00. Wood got the best of McLaughlin in the swimming part of the event but his opponent pulled away in the 5k run to earn the win.

The two-day event ended this past Sunday at Goodman’s Bay.