Trinidad and Tobago’s top open water swimmer Christian Marsden splashed to his third consecutive victory in record time as he conquered the Subway Maracas Open Water Classic 5k title at Maracas Bay yesterday.
Marsden, who placed 13th in the Men’s Marathon 10k swim at the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games at age 16, completed the course in one hour, five minutes and 17 seconds to set a new standard for the event in front of a few hundred spectators at the popular North Coast beach. The effort bettered his 2014 winning time of 1:07:52.
Areios Aquatechs’ Jivan Chee Foon, 19, recorded a personal best of 1:09:19 for this event, while Petrotrin Barracudas’ Sachin Sankar, 18, placed third in 1:12:33, also a PB in a race in which Barbadian open water legend, 71-year old Chris Gibbs also competed.
Gibbs, who at age 58 in 2003 became one of a few people to cross the Channel from England to France, finished in 17th overall in 1:34:48 at Maracas yesterday to win his age-group.
In the women’s edition of the event, Tidal Wave Aquatics swept the top three spots, with Shania David (1:14:20), Brianna Patterson (1:17:01) and Chisara Santana (1:17:24) taking the top prizes.
The Men’s 2650m race was won by TWA’s Kael Yorke (36 minutes), a Carifta, CCCAN and CISC standout butterflyer, while Jada Chatoor, whose mother Camille was a two-time overall champion (1985-86) of the former incarnation named the Cross Harbour swim, claimed the Women’s 2650m. Chatoor splashed to a 37 minute 22 second timing.
But back in the main race of the 5k, Marsden produced another commanding performance in local waters to lift the title and earn the privilege of keeping the challenge trophy after having won the event three years in a row.
After a two-minute stagger to allow for the Men’s 2650m event, Marsden and the rest of the 5km field took to the waters to start their race.
Marsden had already made up the stagger on the stragglers of the 2650m by the first turn and surged ahead of the 5k competition on their way to the Tyrico Bay turn. He caught Yorke about mid-way through the cross-bay swim to the Fisherman’s Village buoy before surging ahead of both the 2650 and 5k fields to start his second circuit. Yorke tuned off at the Lifeguard quarters to complete his victory as Marsden continued with Chee Foon in tow and Sankar further behind, trailed by the pair of 14-year-olds, Gabriel Bynoe and Sebastian Marchand.
Marsden completed the first circuit in 31 minutes and 32 seconds before virtually time-trialling the second circuit in 33:45 for the comfortable triumph.
Earlier in the 750m swim for 12 and unders, Centre of Excellence Sea Hawks Josiah Changar was the overall winner followed by Marlins’ Nikoli Blackman and Silver Sharks Swim Club’s Liam Trepte.
Maracas Open
Water Results
Overall
5k
1.Christian Marsden (unattached) 1:05:17
2.Jivan Chee Foon (Areios Aquatechs) 1:09:19
3.Sachin Sankar (Petrotrin Barracudas) 1:12:33
4.Gabriel Bynoe (Tidal Wave) 1:12:49
5.Sebastian Marchand (Tidal Wave) 1:12:54
6.Shania David (Tidal Wave) 1:14:20
7.Brianna Patterson (Tidal Wave) 1:17:01
8.Chisara Santana (Tidal Wave) 1:17:24
9.Aleem Mohammed (UTT) 1:17:31
10.William Reyes (Torpedoes) 1:22:08
2650
1.Kael Yorke (Tidal Wave) 36:00
2.John Stanley Littlepage (TT Aquatics) 36:49
3.Jada Chatoor (Marlins) 37:22
4.Aaron Acres (UTT) 37:33
5.Josiah Parag (blue Dolphins) 37:37
6.James Gillette (Marlins) 38:24
7.Jeron Thompson (Atlantis) 38:39
8.Sebastian Bos (UTT) 38:55
9.Obadyah Ince (Areios Aquatechs) 39:12
10.Keanu Otero (Blue Dolphins) 39:13