Black Sand Swim Squad cops gold in Barbados National Championship

From February 14 to 17, nine swimmers from St Vincent and the Grenadines representing Black Sands Swim Squad took part in the 2013 Barbados National Championships and brought home a flurry of medals.{{more}}

12-year-old Shne Joachim set the scene on day two (Friday) by destroying the competition in the Girls 11 to 12 years 50 metre Breastroke, taking the gold medal and winning by over three seconds. She then went on to gain a silver medal in the 100 metre Breastroke and then three bronze medals in her other events. At the end of the competition, Joachim placed a respectable 7th place overall in the girls’ points scoring system for the event.

Twelve-year-old Nikolas Sylvester made his mark on the event by battling to secure three silver medals in the Boys 11 to 12 years 50, 100 and 200 metre Breastroke, whilst also achieving bronze in the 50 metre freestyle. Sylvester proudly placed fourth in the overall boys point scoring system

Six other swimmers, Khyle and Khori Brown, Cruz and Storm Halbich, Justin Sylvester, Alex Joachim and Shane Cadogan, swam exceptionally well at the event, all achieving personal best times. Although they were unable to win any medals in their events, they played a huge role in demonstrating to Barbados and the other Caribbean countries competing at the event, that St Vincent and the Grenadines is making positive strides forwards in the sport of competitive swimming.

Coach Kyle Dougan commented “Our swimmers did fantastically well at the event and clearly demonstrated what results can be gained from hard work in training and dedication to a sport. The SVGASA will be holding a Scotia Bank Swimming Competition here in St Vincent from February 22 to 24 at the Shrewsbury pool in Ratho Mill. This will be a great opportunity for local Vincentians to see exactly how far our local swimmers have got within the sport.”