After the opening ceremony this evening at the refurbished Alexander Stadium in Birmingham, Team TTO athletes will embark on the 2022 edition in the English cosmopolitan city.
Defending women’s 100m champion Michelle-Lee Ahye is expected to bear the flag and lead the T&T contingent out in an elaborate ceremony at that stadium, a venue that doubles as the main athletics site.
But the real sporting action serves off tomorrow morning. TTO’s first main medal threat for the Games will centre around swimmer Dylan Carter, who splashes off in the men’s 50m butterfly preliminaries at the spanking new Sandwell Aquatics Centre—swimming prelims get under way from 5.30 a.m. to 8.15 a.m. (T&T time)—in an event in which the 26-year-old local swim star produced a silver medal at the 2018 Gold Coast version.
His performance here—with the semi-finals scheduled in the evening session (2 p.m. to 4.45 p.m. T&T time)—will be a key indicator if Team TTO is to match, or even surpass, their three-medal haul (two gold, one silver) at that Australia edition of the Games in 2018.
T&T’s best Commonwealth Games showing occurred at the 1966 Kingston, Jamaica-hosted Games with a nine-medal haul (five gold, two silver, two bronze).
“Commonwealth is a special one for me, it was my first international medal at a senior level... it is a little bit lighter atmosphere than the Olympics, that cuts the tension because everyone is so friendly and it is really a special games,” said Carter, who trained at the University of Stirling in Scotland after last month’s FINA World Aquatics Championships in Budapest.
“Of course, the silver medal at Gold Coast last time was a special moment in my career... so would like to repeat that effort or even do one better. But the competition is very stiff and I am coming up against some of the world’s best. I think swimmers from the Commonwealth have really come on in the last few years and this meet is going to be world-class,” he added.
Carter is coming off a fourth-placed finish in this event at the Worlds last month. Besides Carter, his teammate Graham Chatoor will line up in the prelims of the men’s 400m free.
At the National Exhibition Centre, T&T’s female representatives in table-tennis, Rheann Chung and Catherine Spicer will start the women’s team event qualifying round one in a competition that serves off from 4.30 a.m. (T&T time), and provided they advance, the women’s team event preliminary round two from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Also from 7 a.m., Team TTO tackle hosts England, the defending Commonwealth champions, in netball action at the NEC Arena. There will also be round of 64 preliminary action for TTO’s squash players, including Charlotte Knaggs and Chayse McQuan in the women’s and men’s competition, respectively, at the University of Birmingham Hockey and Squash Centre. Squash whips off from 7 to 10.15 a.m.
And at Sutton Park TTO’s four triathletes, namely Jenna Ross, Kaya Rankine-Beadle, Jason Costelloe and Jean-Marc Granderson will get their multi-discipline sport under way between 6 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Team TTO’s 110-member contingent at the Games includes 73 athletes competing in 12 sporting disciplines; aquatics, athletics, basketball (3x3), beach volleyball, boxing, cycling, gymnastics, judo, netball, squash, table-tennis and triathlon.
