Coach Elsworth Phillip (left) with the five Makos Swim Club swimmers that competed at the US Virgin Islands (USVI) Birthday Bash Swim Meet on January 28, 2017 in St Thomas. Photo: Provided

Khadija Sampson (Black & Green swimsuit) is off the blocks in the 50m freestyle. Photo: Provided

Competing for Team VI were Jaden Marshall, Khadijah Sampson, Kassia Nichols, Kurt Salapare, and Arianna Angus. This was an open meet where all swimmers competed in mixed age group events.

Coach Elsworth Phillip said he was happy with the way the swimmers performed at this event simply based on the fact that young swimmers had an opportunity to compete against older, stronger swimmers in mixed events.

“Meets like this provide an opportunity for our swimmers to compete for better times as they are being pushed by stronger swimmers.”

Notable swims for VI Swimmers

Makos’ male swimmers showed great progress, with Jaden Marshall clocking 43.92 in the 50m breaststroke, beating Kurt Salapare by a small margin of 0.65 to win the event.

Not to be outdone by his teammate, Kurt Salapare sprinted to 1:11.08 in the 100 freestyle, the fastest time for a VI male swimmer in this event.

Khadijah Sampson continued her dominance as the Virgin Islands top 9 to 10 year old female swimmer by winning three of the four events she competed in.