CAC Games: Two more medals for the Caribbean, including a Neckles gold

The 23-year old Nicolette Fernandez from Guyana put her country on the medal chart after beating the Mexican Samantha Terán in squash."This has been a great experience, I have a good team. This is one of the most spectaculars sports venues in which I have

CARTAGENA, Colombia, July 21, 2006 - The Caribbean picked up two more medals last night at the CAC Games in Colombia. It was Nicky Neckles of Barbados who brought in a gold medal in the men's 50-metre backstroke in 26.44 seconds and Nicholas Novell of Trinidad and Tobago winning bronze in 26.82 seconds. Shawn Clarke of Barbados placed seventh at 27.74.

This brings to 25 the number of medals won by the English-speaking islands - 11 gold, six silver, and eight bronze in the disciplines of archery, cycling, shooting, squash, swimming.

In other races last night at the At the Pedro de Heredia Aquatic Centre Puerto Rico brought in gold in to women's 50-metre freestyle in 25.29 seconds knocking out Sharmatelle McClean of Trinidad and Tobago (26.37), Alia Atkinson of Jamaica (26.71), and Nikia Deveaux of The Bahamas (27.00).

In the 4X100 metres relay the Puerto Rico team copped a bronze at 3:27.76 minutes behind gold winners Venezuela (3:22.58) and Mexico (3:25.85). The Barbados team of Bradley Ally, Martyn Forde, Andrei Cross, and Terrence Haynes 3:29.74 placed fourth with Jamaica (Dominic Reads, Jonathan Wong, Travis Forte, Brad Hamilton) sixth, Trinidad and Tobago (George Bovell, Anthony Schamber, John Littlepage, Nicholas Novell) 7th and the British Virgin Islands (Edmund Locke, Branden Whitehurst, Richard Locke, Joshua Laban) eighth.

In the English-speaking Caribbean both Jamaica and Barbados top the list with seven medals but it is Jamaica, with four gold, two silver, and one bronze which edges Barbados with four gold, one silver, and two bronze.

Trinidad and Tobago picks up second position with one gold, one silver, and four bronze and Guyana in fourth position with one gold.

In the wider Caribbean it is Cuba who leads with 42 gold, 29 silver, and 23 bronze followed by Puerto Rico with nine gold, five silver, and 16 bronze.

The tally of medals as of last night is listed below. To see the individual performance and the disciplines click on the respective medal tally.

Medals Won Country Total Mexico 55 48 31 134 Cuba 42 29 23 94 Colombia 35 29 23 87 Venezuela 19 48 56 123 Puerto Rico 9 5 16 30 El Salvador 4 8 13 25 Dominican Republic 4 2 11 17 Jamaica 4 2 1 7 Barbados 4 1 2 7 Guatemala 2 3 8 13 Trinidad and Tobago 1 1 4 6 Guyana 1 0 0 1 Cayman Islands 1 0 0 1 Costa Rica 1 0 0 1 Panama 0 3 0 3 Bahamas 0 2 1 3 Nicaragua 0 0 1 1 Honduras 0 0 0 0 Aruba 0 0 0 0 Bermuda 0 0 0 0 St Lucia 0 0 0 0 Surinam 0 0 0 0 British Virgin Islands 0 0 0 0