‘Barracuda’ Track League pedals off this weekend

The event is hosted by Southampton Wheelers Cycle Club in recognition of the late Hilton ‘Barracuda’ Mitchell who rode for the Club in 1958 at Southern Games.

Major events at the meet include the 500m, Match Sprint and Individual Pursuit.

‘Barracuda’, a former top international cyclist, had his cycling career curtailed prematurely after a wall fell on him at his home in 1959 and he became paralysed. ‘Barracuda’ subsequently represented the country with distinction at the Paraplegic Games in Jamaica, Mexico, Canada, Argentina and Scotland.

He said he got his nickname because he was an excellent swimmer as a youth. ‘Barracuda’ passed away in 2014 and his family and the Club have agreed to keep his name attached to the event so as to commemorate his outstanding contribution to cycling and sport in the country.

The Barracuda Track League, this year, is honouring Winston ‘Charlie’ Attong, a top Southampton cyclist who was at the peak of his career in the 1960s and early 1970s. Charlie, as he has been customarily known in the cycling fraternity, represented this country with distinction in several international competitions all across the globe, including Commonwealth Games, Pan American Games, World Championships and the 1972 Munich Olympics. Charlie and Robert ‘Junior’ Farrell, both Southampton Wheelers Cyclists at the time, remain the only local duo to race in the Tandem event in a major international meeting - the 1970 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, Scotland. Using a tandem bike for the first time on race day, the local duo finished 4th in the event. This weekend’s 500m, Elite 1&2 races at the Barracuda Track League will be named in honour of Charlie.

This year, like in 2016, the club is using the opportunity to honour several other prominent club figures who performed with distinction in the national and international arenas or who contributed significantly to the club over the years.

The Barracuda Track League is positioned immediately before the Easter International Grand Prix so that the cyclists are approaching top form, with the event being used as the final selection criteria for cyclists vying to represent the country at the Easter meeting.

Top in-form Elite riders expected to compete include Njisane Phillip, Quincy Alexander, Keron Bramble, Kwesi Browne, Jabari Whiteman, Jude Codrington, Gavin Nero, Joshua and Adam Alexander, Sheldon Ranjit.

Among the women, top performances are expected from Tennille Campbell, Dominique Lovell, Christianne Farah, Dhalia Palmer and Cheyenne Awai.

The meet is being organised through the support of the National Lotteries Control Board, the Sport Company of Trinidad and Tobago, Trinweld Contracting Services Limited, First Citizen’s Sports Foundation, Massy Technologies Info Com, Petrotrin, Plipdeco, the San Fernando City Corporation and the Trinidad and Tobago Cycling Federation.