For a quarter of a century, elite high school track and field dominance at Jamaica’s top ISSA/GraceKennedy Athletics Championships has belonged almost exclusively to two programs: Kingston College (KC) and Calabar High. Only these two powerhouse institutions have managed to defend their boys’ title and secure consecutive crowns over the past 25 years. Now, Jamaica College (JC) is gunning to break that streak and build a long-term championship dynasty of its own, with head coach Duane Johnson expressing unshakable confidence in his developing roster and newly restructured coaching staff.
作者： admin
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US-Iran truce hangs in balance as war flares in Lebanon
The newly reached two-week ceasefire between Washington and Tehran, a fragile diplomatic breakthrough meant to de-escalate spiraling tensions across the Middle East, faced imminent collapse on Wednesday, as Iran issued stark threats to resume hostilities following Israel’s massive bombardment campaign against neighboring Lebanon.
Just 24 hours after the truce was finalized, forged under a tight deadline set by former U.S. President Donald Trump to end a months-long conflict that has claimed thousands of lives and disrupted global economic stability, both sides had initially celebrated the agreement as a victory, paving the way for scheduled negotiations in the coming days. However, cracks in the deal emerged almost immediately when Israel launched its most intense wave of strikes on Lebanon since the Iran-aligned militant group Hezbollah entered the conflict in early March. The bombardment targeted multiple locations across the country, including densely populated neighborhoods in central Beirut.
Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health confirmed that by the end of Wednesday, at least 182 people had been killed in the attacks, with nearly 900 more sustaining injuries. Since Israel expanded its military operations to include airstrikes and a ground invasion of southern Lebanon last month, local Lebanese officials report the death toll from the campaign has surpassed 1,700.
Israeli officials quickly asserted that their offensive against Hezbollah falls outside the scope of the U.S.-Iran truce, a position that was echoed by U.S. Vice President JD Vance, who is set to lead upcoming negotiations with Iranian delegates in Pakistan in just a few days. “If Iran wants to let this negotiation fall apart… over Lebanon, which has nothing to do with them, and which the United States never once said was part of the ceasefire, that’s ultimately their choice,” Vance stated Wednesday.
But Iran’s top parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, pushed back against this framing, warning in a post on X that the core foundation for upcoming talks had already been broken, rendering continued diplomatic engagement “unreasonable.” Compounding the uncertainty, a senior U.S. administration official confirmed that the 10-point framework Iran has publicly outlined for the ceasefire does not match the terms the White House had previously agreed to, deepening rifts between the two sides.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards issued a fresh warning Wednesday, promising that the country would “fulfil our duty and deliver a response” if Israel does not immediately halt its strikes on Lebanon, while Hezbollah reiterated that it retains an “absolute right” to retaliate for the attacks. U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth mirrored the belligerent tone, saying American military forces remain on high alert and fully prepared to respond if the broader conflict reignites.
The diplomatic drama unfolded just days ahead of the high-stakes negotiation session scheduled to kick off Friday in Islamabad. As part of the preliminary ceasefire deal, Iran had agreed to temporarily reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for global oil supplies, after Trump threatened military action if the waterway remained closed. Commercial vessels did traverse the strait earlier Wednesday, but multiple regional reports later indicated Iran had shut down the waterway again despite the ceasefire agreement, prompting the White House to issue an urgent demand that Tehran “immediately, quickly and safely” reopen it.
In a further blow to hopes that the truce would hold, Iranian state media announced Wednesday that the country had launched new “missile and drone attacks” targeting Gulf Arab states that are allied with the United States. The strikes were framed as retaliation for recent airstrikes against Iranian oil facilities, adding yet another volatile layer to an already rapidly deteriorating situation across the region.
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Tank-Weld welcomes court decision in rebar pricing dispute
A recent ruling by Jamaica’s Supreme Court has delivered a temporary win for TANK-WELD Metals Limited, putting a halt to all enforcement actions tied to an ongoing investigation by the Fair Trading Commission (FTC) into allegations brought against the company by its industry rival ARC Manufacturing.
Issued by the court’s Commercial Division on April 2, the stay order blocks the FTC from enforcing or acting on its controversial March 2026 decision related to the case until a scheduled inter-partes hearing or a new judicial directive is issued. The temporary injunction came in direct response to a judicial review application filed by Tank-Weld, which has prompted the court to schedule the full hearing for April 23. As part of procedural requirements, the court has mandated that all parties must file and exchange formal written legal submissions no later than April 16.
At the core of the legal conflict is a high-stakes pricing disagreement between the two Jamaican manufacturing firms, centered on steel reinforcing bars, more commonly referred to as rebar — a critical construction material used widely across residential and commercial building projects across the country.
In an official statement released to the public this Tuesday, Tank-Weld framed the Supreme Court’s ruling as more than a victory for the company, emphasizing that it shields ordinary Jamaican households, independent builders and local contractors from the immediate threat of skyrocketing construction costs. The firm noted that over its 35 years of operation in Jamaica, it has prioritized keeping rebar and other core building materials accessible and affordable for local communities. It added that the local rebar market operates as a fully open trading environment, where the material can be imported duty-free from any global supplier, a structure that makes sustained uncompetitive pricing impossible to maintain.
Christopher Bicknell, chief executive officer of Tank-Weld, expressed satisfaction with the court’s proactive intervention to stop immediate adverse impacts from the FTC ruling. “We are pleased that the court has stepped in to prevent immediate harm. We remain committed to serving Jamaica with fair prices and will continue to vigorously defend our position,” Bicknell said in the statement.
The CEO went on to outline the broader risks of upholding the FTC’s original decision, arguing that the only beneficiaries would be less efficient industry competitors seeking to inflate prices. “The only people who benefit if the FTC’s reasoning is upheld are less efficient companies that want higher prices; not Jamaican families trying to build or repair their homes; not small contractors trying to make a living; not the Jamaican economy,” he added.
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‘JTA not making up stories’
Months after Hurricane Melissa swept through Jamaica in October 2025, allegations of shocking inappropriate behavior by disaster victims sheltering on active school grounds have sparked a heated public debate, with the island’s national parent-teacher body now backing claims made by the leader of the Jamaican teachers’ union.
During the opening ceremony of the 2026 JTA Education Conference held last Tuesday, Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) President Mark Malabver raised urgent alarm over the ongoing use of western Jamaican school facilities as long-term hurricane shelters. He told attendees that multiple reports had documented shelterees engaging in explicit sexual acts in plain view of attending students, a revelation that drew immediate pushback from skeptics who demanded concrete evidence to support the serious claims. Malabver confirmed Wednesday to Jamaica Observer that he would issue a full formal response to these critics on Thursday.
Stewart Jacobs, president of the National Parent-Teacher Association of Jamaica (NPTAJ), has publicly affirmed that Malabver’s account aligns with complaints his own organization has received from across the island. While Jacobs acknowledged the NPTAJ does not hold hard, empirical evidence such as explicit documentation to verify the specific sexual activity allegations, he emphasized there is no reason to dismiss the JTA president’s claims as fabricated. “Based on the reports that we’ve gotten over the period of time, it does happen, it does occur. It is not for us to say anywhere at all that what the president of the JTA is saying is fictitious; it’s not,” Jacobs told the Jamaica Observer in a Wednesday interview.
Jacobs went on to condemn the behavior as deeply unacceptable, noting that it is particularly egregious for adults to act in such lewd, inappropriate ways in a school environment where children are present daily. Beyond the explicit sexual activity claims, the NPTAJ has also received repeated complaints of shelterees using obscene language and displaying other untoward conduct around students, he added.
To address the ongoing risks to students, Jacobs is calling for urgent action to physically separate shelter populations from the student body while longer-term relocation plans are finalized. He acknowledged that government faces genuine economic constraints and bureaucratic hurdles to rehousing displaced storm victims, but stressed that the core educational mission of school facilities cannot be sidelined indefinitely. “It was designed for our children to go to school to educate themselves and to be strong pillars in society,” he said.
While Jacobs said he trusts that the Ministry of Education is working diligently to resolve the situation, he is pushing for authorities to accelerate plans to move all shelterees out of active school campuses. As of this week, 81 displaced people remain housed across eight school-based shelter sites across the country.
In response to Malabver’s original allegations, the Ministry of Education issued a formal statement Wednesday contradicting the claims, noting that no reports of sexual activity at school shelters have been filed at the school, regional, or national level. The ministry called on Malabver to share specific details to support his claims, adding that school principals have requested additional time to conduct thorough, extraordinary due diligence given the severe gravity of the accusations.
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Bolt statue captivates tourists in Falmouth
FALMOUTH, Trelawny – What began as an unfinished construction project altered by an extreme hurricane has quickly become one of Jamaica’s most beloved new tourist destinations. The 10-foot bronze statue of sprinting legend Usain Bolt, mounted on a newly redesigned fountain at Falmouth’s historic Water Square, has drawn a continuous stream of international visitors eager to snap photos with the monument honoring the world’s fastest man.
The site, located just steps from Falmouth’s historic cruise port, has become a must-see stop for thousands of passengers who disembark from large cruise ships each week. During a recent visit to the popular attraction, Jamaica Observer spoke with tourists and local guides about the statue’s unexpected rise to fame, and got the latest update on plans for its official dedication.
Andy, an excited visitor from New York, called the stop a highlight of his Jamaican trip. “It is great! Fantastic! I just found out that the statue is here. My tour guide brought me here and I just had to take pictures with it,” he said.
Local tour guide Dillion Wilmot explained that Bolt’s global fame makes the statue a draw for nearly every cruise group that comes to Falmouth. “A lot of people come off the boat and they do love to come and take pictures at the statue of Usain Bolt because everyone has heard about him. Most haven’t seen the statue yet, and many have never visited Water Square before. When they come off the ship, they love to see these historical sites and learn about the country’s great people,” Wilmot said, adding that visitors also enjoy learning the deep history of the square itself.
Water Square holds major historical significance: it was home to one of the earliest piped water systems in the Western Hemisphere, constructed all the way back in 1798. The original fountain on the site dates to 1805, and has been updated and redesigned multiple times in the centuries since.
Elliot, a tourist from Idaho who was visiting with a group of American travelers, said the statue lets visitors connect with the national pride Jamaicans have for their most iconic athlete. “I like it because we saw Bolt on television and the way his people greeted him when he came home, it was a big excitement for his country. He’s special,” Elliot said.
The path to the statue’s current popularity was an unplanned one. The Jamaica Defence Force and Trelawny Municipal Corporation partnered to build the new fountain and install Bolt’s statue, but the site remained closed to the public ahead of its planned official unveiling. That changed last October, when Category 5 Hurricane Melissa hit Jamaica with maximum sustained winds of 185 miles per hour. The storm ripped away the protective covering that hid the statue from public view, unexpectedly revealing it to the world months ahead of schedule.
Since that accidental unveiling, visitors have flocked to the site nonstop, turning it into one of the parish’s top tourist attractions. Officials now say an official dedication ceremony will be held in the near future, after months of delays. The event was originally planned for last Christmas, but had to be pushed back due to supply chain issues that slowed work on the redesigned fountain.
Olivia “Babsy” Grange, Jamaica’s Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment, and Sports, confirmed that the fountain and statue are now fully complete, and officials are just finalizing a new date for the dedication. “I have to speak with the mayor of Falmouth. We had planned to do it at Christmas but we didn’t do it at Christmas. So now we have to select an appropriate date. But it’s ready,” Grange said, noting that the supply delay stemmed from the time it took to source custom parts for the redesigned fountain.
Falmouth Mayor C Junior Gager, who also chairs the Trelawny Municipal Corporation, said the public will be notified of the dedication date as soon as it is finalized with Grange’s team. Once fully operational, the fountain will feature eight water jets that spray into the air above the base of the statue. Two new storyboards will also be installed at the site: one detailing the life and career of Bolt, who was born in Trelawny’s Sherwood Content community, and another highlighting the long history of Water Square itself.
The redesigned fountain will also include programmable colored lighting that will be used to mark national and cultural holidays, including Emancipation Day and Christmas Day. Grange confirmed that all infrastructure for the lighting feature is already in place. “They haven’t turned on the lights full time yet but the fountain is all wired and everything. When we turn the water on it’s going to be lit. It’s complete, it’s ready,” she said.
Bolt, a retired sprinter widely regarded as the greatest sprinter in sports history, still holds the world records in the men’s 100-meter and 200-meter sprints, as well as the 4×100-meter relay. Over his legendary career, he won eight Olympic gold medals and 11 World Championships gold medals, cementing his status as a global sporting icon and a source of immense national pride for Jamaica.
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Gordon summoned!
A sitting Jamaican Member of Parliament is set to return for questioning before the national legislature’s Ethics Committee, after new public disclosures contradicted closed-door testimony he gave earlier this year that led to the House granting him an exemption from further scrutiny. The development, which has reopened a case many observers considered closed, was finalized during the committee’s second official meeting this session on Wednesday.
The controversy at the heart of the recall traces back to a damning audit report from Jamaica’s auditor general, which investigated questionable procurement and import practices at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI). The report found that the public teaching hospital improperly leveraged its tax-exempt legal status to clear imported goods on behalf of four private sector entities, resulting in an estimated $23.1 million in lost public revenue. One of the private companies at the center of the audit findings is JACDEN, which lists St Andrew East Central MP Dennis Gordon, a member of the opposition People’s National Party, as a principal partner.
Gordon first appeared before the Ethics Committee for a closed-door hearing on February 4, and the House of Representatives subsequently voted to grant him an exemption from further disciplinary or investigative action. That decision has now been thrown into question, after new information that has entered the public domain appears to contradict key details Gordon provided during his initial private testimony.
Committee chair Marlene Malahoo Forte outlined the panel’s current position in remarks following Wednesday’s vote, emphasizing that the body is not moving immediately to reverse the House’s original exemption decision. Instead, the core question now before the committee is whether the information the original recommendation relied on was accurate, she explained.
The push for renewed scrutiny came from St Andrew West Rural MP Juliet Cuthbert-Flynn, who called for a fresh review after cross-referencing the minutes of February’s closed meeting with subsequent public disclosures. Cuthbert-Flynn’s intervention effectively reopened a case that was widely considered settled after the House approved the exemption earlier this year.
Not all committee members supported moving forward with the recall during Wednesday’s discussion. St Elizabeth South Eastern MP Franklyn Witter raised procedural questions about whether the committee had the authority to revisit a matter that the full House had already formally acted on, casting doubt on whether revisiting the exemption after it was approved was procedurally sound.
Malahoo Forte pushed back on the need for procedural or legal hurdles, framing the current issue as a question of fact rather than a legal dispute. She argued that if new public information directly contradicts testimony Gordon gave during his first appearance, the only appropriate step is to give the MP an opportunity to respond and clarify the inconsistencies, noting that this adheres to the core principle of natural justice.
“You do not make any binding decision affecting any person without first giving that person the opportunity to be heard, that is a basic tenet of natural justice,” Malahoo Forte said, adding that there is no need for outside legal counsel to resolve the current standoff.
As the parliamentary body charged with reviewing allegations of misconduct among sitting MPs, including violations of conflict of interest and disclosure rules, the Ethics Committee’s next steps will focus solely on gathering clarification before any formal decisions are made. Malahoo Forte stressed that the panel has not yet moved to reverse the House’s original exemption, and is only seeking to verify the accuracy of the original testimony in light of new developments.
“At this stage, we are not seeking to overturn the original recommendation we sent to the House. We simply want to examine the original findings against new information that has come to light,” Malahoo Forte said. “Once we receive clarification from the member, we will draft a new report and send it back to the full House for any further action it deems appropriate.”
Following Wednesday’s discussion, the committee voted to formally summon Gordon back to appear under the House’s standing orders, rather than extending an informal invitation. The formal process requires official notice to be delivered through the clerk of Parliament, and will follow the established timetable ahead of the committee’s next scheduled sitting.
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Pick up the pace!
### Montego Bay Perimeter Road Project Delayed to 2027, Sparking Outcry From Local Business Leaders
For a city long crippled by crippling urban traffic congestion, the Montego Bay Perimeter Road Project has stood for decades as a beacon of hope — a promised solution that would cut through gridlock and unlock new economic growth for Jamaica’s iconic western tourism and commercial hub. But that hope has once again been pushed into the future, as local business leaders are voicing deep frustration over the news that a key section of the transformative infrastructure project will not be completed until May 2027, more than a year later than the most recent public target.
The new completion timeline for the Long Hill Bypass segment was confirmed earlier this week by the National Road Operating and Constructing Company (NROCC), the state-owned entity managing the project on behalf of the Jamaican government, in response to inquiries from the *Jamaica Observer*. When reached for comment by the outlet Wednesday, Nadine Spence, second vice president of the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MBCCI), made clear the business community’s anxiety over the extended delay.
“Time means money, and the longer this project drags on, the more revenue and opportunity we lose,” Spence told the *Observer*. “We are deeply concerned about this new delay — this project has been waiting for generations, and every extra month of gridlock holds our city back.”
Robert Morgan, Jamaica’s junior minister with responsibility for public works, pinned the latest schedule shift on widespread damage inflicted by Category 5 Hurricane Melissa, which slammed into the island last October and devastated the Catherine Hall and West Green neighborhoods, where much of the bypass construction is concentrated. Morgan added that the project already suffered prior setbacks from Hurricane Beryl, which hit the island in 2024.
But while Spence acknowledged that natural disasters are unavoidable, she argued that project managers have failed to prioritize urgency to get work back on track. She has also thrown her support behind a compromise proposal: open already completed segments of the bypass to the public while remaining construction wraps up, to deliver at least partial relief to frustrated motorists and businesses.
“At one point, officials told us one leg of the route would be opened early,” Spence noted. “We are asking that this plan be revisited. Even partial access would make a huge difference for our city while we wait for the full completion, and we would welcome that right now.”
The revised timeline sees mixed deadlines across different segments of the project: the Montego Bay Bypass and West Green Avenue sections are now targeted for September 2026, while the Barnett Street leg has been moved up to an April 2026 completion. Even with that small acceleration, the new 2027 deadline for the Long Hill Bypass has done little to calm local nerves.
Spence specifically highlighted concerns over the upcoming Dream Wknd 2026 festival, scheduled to take place from July 30 to August 3 that year. The event is expected to draw thousands of visitors to Montego Bay, a city already struggling with daily traffic gridlock that the road project was designed to fix. With the bypass set to remain unfinished for the major tourism event, Spence warned the delay will exacerbate existing congestion issues.
“This delay just means Montego Bay will continue to grapple with persistent traffic snarls that hurt every part of our local economy,” Spence said. “When you host a major international event like Dream Wknd that brings thousands of extra people to the city, the impact of uncompleted infrastructure is going to be felt by everyone — visitors, locals, and business owners alike. Traffic conditions are completely unpredictable: some days you can move normally, and other days the whole area is gridlocked for hours. It’s a waste of time, a waste of energy, and it makes our city far less efficient for business and daily life.”
Mark Kerr-Jarrett, a prominent Montego Bay real estate developer and long-time advocate for the bypass, echoed Spence’s concern, describing the project as “desperately needed” and “decades overdue.” Beyond hurricane-related damage, Kerr-Jarrett argued that unnecessary bureaucratic red tape around land acquisition is also holding up work on the Long Hill segment.
“I’ve been told that the National Land Agency now requires a pre-check plan to be submitted alongside every land acquisition and sales agreement for the project,” Kerr-Jarrett explained. “This requirement is completely unnecessary, and it adds massive amounts of time to the process. Getting one pre-check plan approved can take up to nine months, which pushes every single acquisition back by a minimum of four months, and as much as nine.”
Looking beyond the current construction delays, Kerr-Jarrett is also calling on the Jamaican government to reverse its plan to charge tolls on the completed bypass, arguing the road is core public infrastructure that should be free to use for local residents and motorists.
“The people who need this road the most are the ones who can’t afford to pay tolls to use it,” he said. “Even though it’s called a bypass, this is core municipal infrastructure built specifically to cut congestion in the heart of Montego Bay. It should be treated as such.”
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Manhunt!
A manhunt for the armed men filmed in a viral social media clip opening fire in Jamaica’s Corporate Area community of Jarrett Lane dramatically ramped up this Wednesday, with the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) confirming 12 people have been taken into custody and multiple pieces of illegal contraband seized during targeted residential searches. The aggressive law enforcement operation was triggered after a 45-second video circulating online since Tuesday captured the group discharging multiple rounds into the air above a gathered crowd, prompting senior police officials to order an immediate, coordinated response.
Leading the operation, Assistant Commissioner of Police Michael Phipps outlined that the sweep kicked off at approximately 5:30 a.m. Wednesday, bringing together more than 100 trained law enforcement officers from three specialized units: the Kingston Eastern Division, Area 4 Fugitive Apprehension Team, and the Specialised Operations Division. Over the course of the day, teams carried out synchronized search warrants across 12 separate properties spanning 42 individual homes throughout the Jarrett Lane neighborhood.
During the searches, officers uncovered a haul of incriminating evidence alongside controlled substances. “We recovered a quantity of ganja, five 5.6-millimeter cartridges designed for high-powered rifles including the M16, multiple spent bullet casings, an empty high-capacity rifle magazine, and what are known as lead sheets, which are tied to offences under the Law Reform Act,” Phipps explained in an exclusive interview with Jamaica Observer. “Based on the evidence found, we have arrested 12 people on suspicion of criminal involvement,” he added.
The materials recovered tie into the Law Reform (Fraudulent Transactions) (Special Provisions) Act, widely referred to locally as the Lottery Scam Act, legislation crafted specifically to target large-scale fraud schemes and identity theft operations. Key crimes covered under the act include theft and trafficking of personal access information, obtaining funds through false pretenses, intimidation of scam victims, and operating residential properties to facilitate fraudulent activity.
Lead sheets, a core piece of evidence for these cases, are detailed documents that compile full personal information of potential scam targets: including full names, residential addresses, phone numbers, United States Social Security numbers, private banking details, and other sensitive data that scammers use to manipulate vulnerable people into sending money under false pretenses.
Phipps made clear that the JCF will not end its efforts until the armed men seen in the viral video are taken into custody, alongside rooting out all other criminal networks operating within the Jarrett Lane community. “This operation is a critical win because the seizure of ammunition and these fraudulent materials will significantly disrupt the criminal operations based out of 72 Mountain View Avenue, the hub of activity in the Jarrett Lane area,” Phipps noted.
The senior police official also issued a stark nationwide warning to any other individuals engaged in or considering joining criminal activity across Jamaica, emphasizing that the JCF will move quickly to apprehend anyone breaking the law. “We are telling any person thinking of following this path not to get involved. The men seen firing these weapons will be hunted relentlessly, and we will take every necessary action to send a clear message: this kind of reckless, dangerous behavior will not be tolerated in this country,” Phipps said.
He reaffirmed the JCF’s long-standing commitment to safeguarding Jamaican communities and clearing illegal firearms and ammunition from the nation’s streets. “As I have always said, and I want to make this crystal clear: the reckless display of gunfire that these men showed in that video is something the Jamaica Constabulary Force will not accept in any way, shape, or form,” Phipps stressed. As of Wednesday evening, investigations remain active and ongoing, with detectives continuing to collect evidence and track down all persons connected to the public weapons discharge incident.
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Nieuwe aanvallen in Golfregio ondanks afgesproken staakt-het-vuren tussen VS en Iran
Just days after a landmark two-week ceasefire agreement was reached between the United States and Iran, the fragile truce in the Persian Gulf region has been shaken by a wave of coordinated drone and missile attacks targeting three Gulf monarchies. The United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, and Bahrain have all confirmed that the incoming strikes originated from Iranian territory, marking a sharp escalation that tests regional and international hopes for de-escalation.
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Record medals tally for Saint Lucia at CARIFTA Aquatics
The 2026 CARIFTA Aquatics Championships wrapped up its four-day run on April 7 at Martinique’s Pierre Samot Community Aquatic Centre, and the Saint Lucia national swim squad has emerged with a historic milestone to celebrate. The island nation’s swimmers secured an unprecedented total of 14 medals across individual events, marking a one-medal increase from their 2025 performance and setting a new national record for the regional competition.
Leading the charge for Saint Lucia was 11-12 age division standout Sapphire Parks, who turned in a dominant performance that cemented her status as one of the region’s most promising young swimmers. Defending her division title from the previous year, Parks expanded her personal medal haul from eight in 2025 to 10 this year, closing out the competition with an overall tally of five gold, four silver, and one bronze to earn 88 total individual points. Her standout results included a gold medal win in the 100m breaststroke, where she clocked a finishing time of 1:21.23, and a silver medal in the 200m backstroke with a time of 2:38.13.
Reflecting on her performance after Monday’s preliminary and final events, Parks opened up about the mix of progress and resilience that defined her competition. “In the first three events that I did, I didn’t really hit personal bests as much as I wanted,” she explained. “But in the last event, the 200m individual medley that I’m really proud of right now, I dropped a lot of time, and that made me really happy. It made up for the rest.” On the final day of competition, Parks added a fifth-place finish in the 400m freestyle final to her overall results.
Beyond Parks’ historic individual performance, several other Saint Lucia swimmers turned in impressive results to push the team to its record medal count. Tyler Dantes claimed one gold medal for the squad, while Antoine Destang earned two silver medals, and Maya Andrew took home a bronze medal. Dantes also posted eighth place in the 11-12 boys’ 50m freestyle and sixth in the 200m backstroke, cutting an impressive 10 seconds off his previous personal best time in the process. Destang, competing in the 15-17 boys’ division, notched a fourth-place finish in the 50m freestyle and eighth in the 200m freestyle. Young swimmer Fayth Jefferey came just short of qualifying for the 100m breaststroke finals in a tightly contested preliminary round.
When the final scores were tallied, Saint Lucia secured 12th place in the overall team rankings with 156 total points, a solid finish that reflected the team’s consistent performance across four days of competition. The Bahamas claimed the overall team title with a dominant 795 total points to top the regional rankings. Comparing the 2026 result to last year’s, Saint Lucia’s 2025 medal count stood at 13 medals: four gold, four silver, and five bronze, making this year’s 14-medal haul a new benchmark for the country’s aquatics program.