– bronze for Smith, Sobers
From Kiev Chesney in Suriname
Earlando McRae registered stunning back-to-back victories at the Parima swimming facility here in Suriname yesterday to secure Guyana’s first two gold medals in stage one of the 2008 Inter-Guiana Games.
Just when things were looking a bit dim for Guyana, the lightning reflexes of McRae saw him rocketing off the starting block as he raced to a close victory in the 50m freestyle winning in a time of 25.72s.
McRae edged French Guiana’s Loic Balourd (25.73s) for the gold while Indurene Lushee also of French Guiana (FG) took the bronze in a time of 26.60s.
Less than five minutes later, McRae took to the pool again en-route to capturing his second gold medal in the 50m breaststroke which he did, winning the event in a time of 32.85s.
Second was FG’s Anthony Ozier Lafountaine (33.64s) with Marcelino Richaards of Suriname third in 33.64s.
McRae told Stabroek Sport that he felt it was his task to turn things around for his team and he was happy to have been able to rise to the occasion.
“I knew that things were not going too well for my team and I wanted to bring home the gold so that I could bring some joy to the rest of athletes,” he said.
Guyana’s other top swimmer Niall Roberts, was severely bitten by ants on his right leg the night before the competition which resulted in swelling and inflammation of the leg.
He was bitten just yards from the entrance to the Stardust Hotel on Wednesday evening and was unable to compete in the first session.
Noelle Smith captured a bronze medal in the 100m butterfly in 1:23.21s, while Jamaal Sobers also won bronze in the 200m individual medley.
After the first day of the competition, Guyana trailed the other two teams.
French Guiana are in the lead with 118 points with Suriname steady on 99 points. Guyana are on 58 points.
Guyana collected four medals ( two gold, two bronze), Suriname nabbed 12 medals (four gold, five silver and three bronze) while French Guiana dominated with 18 medals (six gold, seven silver and five bronze) as they recorded podium finishes in every event.
The swimmers are scheduled to take to the pool later today for session two.
