Blue Marlins reap harvest at Flow Invitational Swim Meet

In the words of decorated Olympian Michael Phelps, “You can’t put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the further you get.”

Twenty-one young and talented swimmers of the Blue Marlins Swim Club, ages ranging from 5 to 13, showed examples of just that kind of thinking. They demonstrated quite commendable effort at the Flow Invitational, which was held from Friday, 26 August to Sunday, 28 August at the Shrewsbury Aquatic Centre.{{more}} Swim clubs from Barbados, Tobago, St Lucia, Grenada, Bequia and mainland St Vincent competed for medals and age group championship trophies. Blue Marlins captured four age group championship trophies in the Girls age 6 & Under in Tyler Matthias, Girls age 7 to 8 in Kennice Greene, Boys age 7 to 8 in Brandon George and Boys age 9 to 10 in Tristan Ballah.

The Overall Sprint Challenge Champions of both individual Boys and Girls age group 7 to 8 were won by Brandon George and Kennice Greene respectively. National records were broken by Kennice Greene (7 to 8) in the 200m Freestyle, 50 Breaststroke and 50 Fly events. Hazen Dabriel (6 & Under) broke the national record in the 25m Backstroke, earning a bronze medal. A total of 77 medals were won by the swimmers. Leading the tally were Kennice Greene with 10 gold and 1 silver and Brandon George with 9 gold and 2 silver. Tristan Ballah copped 5 gold, 4 silver and 1 bronze, while Hazen Dabriel got 1 gold, 5 silver and 4 bronze. Matthew Ballah claimed 3 silver and 5 bronze medals. Zariel Nelson won 2 silver and 4 bronze medals, while Tyler Matthias won 3 gold and 1 silver. Not to be left out were Tyrese Lewis with 4 bronze; Seth Byron with 3 bronze; Adiah Phillips with 2 bronze; and Ariel Pierre, 1 gold and 1 silver. Stalwarts of the club Bryson George and Kenale Alleyne demonstrated their continued rise to prowess by achieving 11 personal best times apiece in their events. Bryson got 1 bronze for his perfect 11 PBs in 11 events, while Kenale also attained 11 PBs from his 12 events entered, with 1 silver and 1 bronze.

Honourable mention must be made of the upcoming talents of Abigale DeShong and Kelsea Nichols, with 6 PBs each; Adonia Bramble achieving 5 PBs; Sebastien DeFreitas with 3 PBs; Tai Joseph with 2 PBs; and Tyler Samuel with a PB in the 25m Breastroke.

The swimmers’ success is due in no small part to their summer long trainer and committed coach Neisha Alexander, assisted by coaches Rickydene Alexander and Sarah Smith. The swimmers now have their sights set on the upcoming OECS Championships in November, to be hosted here in St Vincent and the Grenadines.