KINGSTON, Jamaica – Jamaica’s swimmers returned to the island last week after their impressive second-place finish at the 2025 Carifta Aquatics Championships in Trinidad and Tobago.
Jamaica ended the five-day championships with 795.50 points, behind perennial champions Bahamas, who topped the standings with 979 points. Trinidad and Tobago was third with 735 points. It was an improvement over their fourth-place finish at the championships last year.
Kafia Rapley, head coach of Jamaica’s Carifta swim team, credited adequate preparation for the performance.
“The athletes were prepared, we were always in contact with them,” Rapley told journalists after the team’s arrival at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston. “We are showing the Caribbean that we are back, we are here to compete and we are here to win.”
Homer Davis, state minister in the Office of the Prime Minister, lauded the swimmers and expressed optimism over Jamaica’s future in the sport.
“This is the largest medal haul that our swim team has ever had at Carifta. We can only go from strength to strength. With the support of the parents, the government and in general Jamaica, our swimming prowess is reaching to a point where we can challenge the world,” Davis said.
Jamaica secured 56 medals — 21 gold, 19 silver, and 16 bronze — at the championships, one less than Trinidad and Tobago (57) and 18 behind Bahamas’ 74 medals.