[5] After graduating from high school in 1994, she left her native country Barbados to train and live on a sporting camp in Trinidad and Tobago, and eventually continued her journey for the Olympics.

[2][10][11] Because of her stellar performances in the pool, she was named Barbados National Athlete of the Year thrice (1995–1997), and later earned the Minister's and Service Award, respectfully.

[3][4] At the 1997 FINA Short Course World Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden, Martindale established a Barbadian record of 25.32 to pull off a fifth-place effort in the 50 m freestyle, finishing off the podium by nearly half a second (0.50).

The following year, at the 1998 FINA World Championships in Perth, Western Australia, Martindale shared a fifteenth seed with Great Britain's Sue Rolph in the 50 m freestyle (a matching time of 26.19).

[15][16] Two days later, in the 50 m freestyle, Martindale posted a time of 26.05 from heat six to share a twenty-third seed with Australia's home favorite Sarah Ryan in the prelims, but missed the semifinals by almost a tenth of a second (0.10).