Last year’s Junior Sportswoman and first time Olympian swimmer Mikaili Charlemagne set a new national record yesterday in the 50 metres freestyle in Tokyo, Japan 2020 Olympic Games.
Charlemagne had support not only from Saint Lucia, but also at Springfield College which she attends. The Saint Lucian Flag was raised alongside the USA National Flag on Alden Street in her honour on Thursday 29th July.
There were solidarity messages from the 13th President of Springfield College, Mary Beth Cooper, Mikaili’s coach, John Taffe and Vice President for Inclusion and Community Engagement, Calvin Hill who wish Mikaili every success at the Games.
Swimming out of Lane 5 in Heat No. 5, Charlemagne finish second in a time of 26.99 seconds which now stands as a New National Record, her entry time was 27.27 seconds. She eclipsed the old record of 27.27 seconds which she held since 2019 at the FINA World Juniors in Budapest, Hungary.
The eventual winner in Heat 5 was Elisabeth Norah Milanesi of Cameroon in a time of 26.41 seconds.
It was tough going for Jean Luc Zephir swimming in Heat 3, in the men’s 100 metres freestyle, Zephir finish 7th in a time of 51.94 seconds and 54th overall. He had a reaction time of 0.68.
The top three in the Heat were, Mokhtar Ali Abdulhadi Al-Yamani of Yemen in a time of 50.52 seconds, 2nd Andrew Chetcuti of Malta in a time of 51.47 seconds and 3rd Yousuf Almatrooshi of UAE in a time of 51.50 seconds.
The top three medalists in the final were Caeleb Dressel of the USA in a time of 47.07 (Olympic Record), 2nd Kyle Chalmers of Australia in a time of 47.08 seconds and 3rd Kilment Kolesnikov of ROC in a time of 47.44 seconds.
Meanwhile, Commonwealth Games 2018 Gold medalist, Gold Coast, Australia, sixth place finisher at the Olympic Games in Rio Janerio, Brazil 2016 and Multiple Sportswoman for the Year, Leven Spencer will compete on Thursday 5th August in the women’s high jump to bring the curtains down on Saint Lucia participation at the Games.
