National records broken at Time Trials Swim Meet

Two national age group records were broken during the recent time trials swim meet held on June, 7 and 8, 2025 at the Shrewsbury Aquatic Centre.

The event was hosted by the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Swimming Federation (SVGSF).

Representing Black Sands Swim Squad (BSSS), Kione DeShong broke the national record in the Boys 11–12 age group 100m breaststroke.

DeShong clocked a time of 1:13.13, surpassing the previous long-standing record of 1:13.44 held by Nikolas Sylvester for 13 years. Caghry Williams of Blue Marlins also beat the old record with a strong swim of 1:13.31, finishing just behind DeShong.

The times for DeShong and Williams’ record-breaking swims rank them number 2 and number 3 respectively in the British swimming rankings for their age category.

In the Boys 15–16 age group, BSSS’s Matthew Ballah continued his impressive form by breaking his own national record in the 50m backstroke. Ballah posted a time of 27.30 seconds, improving on his previous mark of 27.76 seconds.

BSSS head coach, Kyle Dougan, expressed his views about the record-breaking performances, saying they clearly demonstrate the impressive talent within competitive swimming in SVG. He also said he hopes the SVGSF will organize more time trials in the future, providing local swimmers with more opportunities to compete.

The club has extended heartfelt gratitude to the St Vincent and the Grenadines Swimming Federation for their continued support, and also to Tus-T water.