SAINT LUCIA’S 19-member team returned home last week with 23 medals after competiting at the Goodwill Championship at the Barbados Aquatic Centre August 17th-19th.
The team competed against their peers from Jamaica, Barbados, Suriname, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Bahamas and Grenada and placed on the board 285 points with 3 Gold, 12 Silver and 8 Bronze Medals.
Swim highlights included Antoine Destang who placed 2nd and Eden Crick and Mikaela Casimir tying for 3rd in the individual score points.
1st place medalists taking the podium were Ziv Reynolds in 50 Breast and Antoine Destang in 50 Breast and 50 Fly.
2nd place medalists includedFayth Jeffery and Karic Charles in 50Breast, Eden Crick in 50 Free Style, and Mikaela Casimir in 50 Fly.
3rd place winners took their spot with Antoine Destang in 100 and 200 Free Style, Eden Crick 100 Back, Karic Charles 100 Breast and Shalini Joseph in 50 Back.
A total of 9 Age Group Records were broken. Record breakers included Fayth Jeffery in the 8 and under 100 Freestyle and 100 meter Individual Medley (IM). Antoine Destang broke 6 of the 9 records in 9 -10 50 free, 100 free, 200 free, 50 back, 50 fly, 100 fly. Tristan Dorville joined the record breaking pack by setting a 9 -10 age group record in the 200 IM.
The Head Coach David Peterkin, assisted by Coach Henry Joseph was pleased with the general performance of the team as the swimmers transitioned to another level in their swimming career. Peterkin also noted what pleased him most was 71% of best times was gained by the team, a definite improvement over 2017 bringing in 21 medals with an improvement of 52%.
The team manager Cheryl Dorville who was ably assisted by chaperones NicklerVelinor-Paul and Lisa Pultie voiced their delight in working with the swimmers.
As customary, at the closing ceremony to mark the end of the Meet, invited guests saw talents beyond swimming being performed by the swimmers at the cultural presentation.
SLASA took time out to thank the following sponsors for their contributions. National Lotteries Authority in particular which has been instrumental in their continuous contributions to swimming over the years. Massy Distributions, Spice of India, Bay Gardens Resorts, Coco Palm, Dominos, The Landings Resort and Spa, Windward and Leeward Brewery, Blue Waters, Fancy Foods, Ecowares, Adrian Augier and KFC.