National Swimmers and Marlins Athletes Samantha Rahael and Jonathan Gillette emerged the victors in 5000m swim at the ASATT Maracas Open Water Swim Classic at Maracas Bay on Sunday.

Rahael who is based in the USA won on her debut in the Maracas 5k race and topped the female field to win in 1 hour 12 minutes and 32 seconds dethroning last year's champion Theana Hay of Centre of Excellence Sea Hawks (1:16:04).

Rebecca Clarke of Pirates Barbados placed third in 1:17:10. The top three athletes went faster than Hay's winning time in 2010 of 1:18:15. Shantol Ince of Barracudas and Renee Chin Lee of Marlins rounded off the top 5 positions.

On the male side, 2010 2nd place winner Jonathan Gillette won the race in 1:11:13. Last year's champ Stefan Sharpe did not participate as he is pursuing his tertiary education at La Salle University in the USA.

Second place went to Gillette's teammate Blaine Sobrian in 1:12:30, while another Marlins swimmer Marc Stauble placed third in 1:13:33. Emanuel Moraine of Point Fortin Community and Sachin Sankar of Barracudas rounded off the top 5 positions.

In the 2650m race, Nicholas Mitchell of Stingray improved on his 7th place finish last year to win the one lap event in a time of 38 minutes 13 seconds. Only mere seconds separated the second thru fifth place athletes. Marlins athlete Christian Chee Foon moved up from 15th to 2nd and registered a time of 39:08.

Christopher Greene of Tsunami (39:13) and Jonathan Ramkissoon of Centre of Excellence Sea Hawks (39:14) placed third and fourth respectively in their first ever 2650m swim. Jeron O'Brien of Tidal Wave improved on his 9th place finish last year to place 5th (39:15). Notably absent from this year's race were the Marlins trio of Joshua Romany, Dylan Carter and Jabari Baptiste who finished 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively last year.

Jonathan Gillette (right) receives his Challenge Trophy from SPORTT Chairman Sebastien Paddington for winning the 5000m Maracas Open Water Classic

Syriah David of Tidal Wave moved up one notch to claim the 2650m female race victory in 40:50. Last year's champion Sangeeta Maharaj of Stingray placed second in 41:00 with Rochelle Pierre of UTT placing third for the second consecutive year. Fourth place went to Leslyn Alexander of Blue Dolphins up from her 2010 8th place, with 5th place for the 2nd consecutive year going to Dayna Gillette of Marlins.

Shania David of Tidal Wave successfully defended her 750m female children's race title to win in 11 minutes 38 seconds. Alexis Clarke of Pirates Barbados placed 2nd in 11:43 with Jewel Mulrain of Torpedoes placed third in 12:05. Fourth and fifth places went to Arielle Downes (Torpedoes) and Aliyah Noel (Stingray) respectively.

Christian Marsden of Marlins improved on his 4th place finish last year to win the 750m male children's race in 11:39. Second place went to James Gillette of Marlins in 11:53 with Kael Yorke in third place in 11:56. Fourth and Fifth places went to Kobi Talma of Pirates Barbados and John Paul Pedro of Centre of Excellence Sea Hawks respectively.

Over 325 athletes participated in the three races on Sunday. Among the persons present to witness the race was Olympic Medallist George Bovell III and Chairman of the Sport Company of Trinidad and Tobago Sebastien Paddington. Full results for the race can be found on www.swimtt.com

(Press Release from A.S.A.T.T.)