Kione Deshong- CARIFTA 2024The St Vincent and the Grenadines Swimming Federation (SVGSF) national swim team have returned from the Carifta Aquatics Championships 2024 hosted in the Bahamas March March 30th to April 2nd, 2024. We have extended our medal winning streak to ten (10)) consecutive Carifta’s over the last 12 years (there was no Carifta for two years during Covid).
The Carifta Aquatics Championships is the premier swimming championships in the Caribbean with 25 countries invited and over 400 of the best swimmers in the region. Read more: Ten In a Row Medal Streak At CARIFTA
Black Sands Swim Squad (BSSS) swimmers smashed 4 National records and brought home 33 medals from the Barbados Long Course National Championships, which took place from the 27th February to the 3rd March 2024.
Black Sands at 2024 Gallagher ChampionshipsFifty-three swimmers from Black Sands Swim Squad (BSSS) competed in the SVG Gallagher Invitational National Swimming Championships held from the 22nd to 25th February 2024.
They were accompanied by two other teams from SVG, Blue Marlins and the newly formed H2O Lions. Also attending the competition were 9 swimmers from Barbados’s club Sea Eagles. Read more: 2024 Gallagher Invitational Championships
Kione DeshongThe Barbados Short Course Swimming Championships took place from 6th – 10th December and Kione Deshong represented Black Sands Swim Squad in the boys 9-10 age group category. Having spent the last twelve months on a specialist training program, Deshong delivered record breaking performances. He brought back six gold, three silver and two bronze medals and whilst doing so, smashed five SVG National records. Read more: 2023 BASA SC Swimming Championships
31st OECS National TeamThe St Vincent and the Grenadines Swimming Federation (SVGSF) are pleased to report on the results of our participation in the 31st OECS Swimming Championships. The 2023 results were the best performance of a team from SVG in the history of the OECS Championships.The 31st OECS Swimming Championships were held November 10th to 12th in St Lucia. Countries participating were Antigua, Grenada, Martinique, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and Sint Maarten.Read more: 31st OECS Swimming Championships Results
BSSS at 2023 OECS Time TrialsA total of three National records were broken by Black Sands Swim Squad (BSSS) swimmers at the recent time trials hosted by the SVG Swimming Federation which was held on two consecutive weekends, Friday 6th and Saturday 7th October and Friday 13th and Saturday 14th October.Read more: Several Records Broken at 2023 OECS Time Trial
The SVG Swimming Federation (SVGSF) hosted its annual SVG Gallagher National Swimming Championships August 24th to 27th, 2023 at the Shrewsbury Aquatic Centre. It was an exciting and highly competitive event. We thank Gallagher insurance brokers for their continued support to the development of swimming in SVG. We are also grateful to the support of the SVG Olympic Committee. This event serves as the primary basis for the selection of our national team to compete at the upcoming OECS Swimming Championships to held in St Lucia, November 10th to 12th. Read more: 2023 Gallagher Nationals Swimming Championships Results
Alex Joachim
The St. Vincent and the Grenadines Swimming Federation (SVGSF) was represented by Alexander Joachim at the Central America And Caribbean (CCAN) Aquatics Championships held in San Salvador, El Salvador from from August 14th to 19th 2023. Alex swam in 5 events, setting 5 new SVG National open records and qualified for five finals.Read more: Alex Joachim sets new SVG records at CCCAN 2023
CYG 2023 team members
Three swimmers represented SVG at the Commonwealth Youth Games held in Trinidad and Tobago from August 4th to 11th 2023. The swimmers were Kevern DaSilva, Jamie Joachim and Brandon George.Read more: Commonwealth youth Games 2023 Results
The St. Vincent and the Grenadines Swimming Federation (SVGSF) sent a team comprising of 4 swimmers to the Worlds Aquatics Championships held in Fukuoka, Japan from July 23rd to 30th. These championships are an import part of the preparation for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Read more: 2023 World Aquatics Championships Results
Alex JoachimThe Barbados Long Course Swimming Championships took place from 26-28 May where Kione Deshong and Alex Joachim represented Black Sands Swim Squad.Currently in the midst of an elite training program lead by visiting Canadian coach Cathy Purdy, assisting Alex in preparation for the Swimming World Championships to be held in July in Japan. Joachim swam in the boys 15 year and over category....Read more: Black Sands compete at BASA LC Swimming Championships
RHAC Invitational Championships 2023These are results of the 23rd annual RHAC Swimming Championships held in St Lucia from April 13th to 16th, 2023. Special congratulations to the following SVG swimmers representing Blue Marlins swim club and Black Sands Swim Squad:Tayeah St Hilaire – swimming for Blue Marlins Swim Club and in the girls age 11 to 12 category. Tayeah continued he winning wins having just won three medals at Carifta by winning 5 golds...Read more: 23rd Annual RHAC Invitational
BSSS at RHAC 2023Seth Byron and Kione Deshong represented Black Sands Swim Squad (BSSS) at the 23rd Inter-Club RHAC Invitational Swimming Championships held in St Lucia from 13th to 16th April.Seth, swimming in the boys 13-14 age group category, was the winner of the sprint challenge and overall champion. He also broke the RHAC record in the 50m freestyle and won 5 gold, 5 silver and 1 bronze medal.Read more: Black Sands Wins Medals at 23rd RHAC Invitational
2023 CARIFTA Team SVGWe thank our partners and sponsors including Gallagher Insurance Brokers, the National Olympic Committee and our international governing body, World Aquatics. Without their continued support, SVG could not compete at the CARIFTA Games level. The St Vincent and the Grenadines Swimming Federation (SVGSF) are proud to report that upon completion of the Carifta Aquatics Championships 2023, we have extended our medal winning streak to nine (9) consecutive Carifta’s over the last 11 years (there was no Carifta for two years during Covid).Read more: 2023 CARIFTA Swimming Championships
The Barbados Long Course Swimming Championships took place from 28th February to 5th March where brothers Bryson and Brandon George and Zariel Nelson represented BSSS.
15 year old Brandon George broke two SVG National records. In the 100m backstroke he smashed Nikolas Sylvester’s time of 1:06.57, setting a new time of 1:03.81. He then went on to break Cruz Halbich’s National record of 2:34.84 in the 200m backstroke with a time of 2:23.00.
Forty swimmers from Black Sands Swim Squad (BSSS) competed in the SVG Gallagher Invitational National Swimming Championships held from the 16th to 19th February 2023.
A total of 157 medals were won during the competition (61 Gold, 57 Silver and 39 Bronze). Those medal winners were:
Team SVG 2022The St Vincent and the Grenadines Swimming Federation (SVGSF) are pleased to report on the results of our participation in the 30th OECS Swimming Championships.
The 30th OECS Swimming Championships were held November 11th to 13th in St Lucia. Countries participating were Antigua, Grenada, St Kitts, St Lucia, St Vincent and St Martin. We congratulate Antigua on their first win as the overall Champions of OECS Swimming. Read more: 30th OECS Swimming Championships
Team SVG at Opening The Commonwealth Games were held in Birmingham, England from July 29th to August 8th 2022 at the Sandwell Aquatics Centre. Team SVG had 6 swimmers participating.
We gave special congratulations to swimmers:
Shane Cadogan – new national record of 29.89 in the 50 meter Breaststroke (breaking his own previous record of 30.05)
Shane CadoganSt Vincent & The Grenadines’ 2020 Olympian, Shane Cadogan recently competed in the 34th CCCAN Swimming Championships held in Barbados from the 9-13th July.
Making the finals in four of the five events, Cadogan was unable to medal, however, he managed to break his own SVG National record in the 50m freestyle, swimming a time of 24.26 seconds. Read more: 2022 CCCAN Swim championships
Shane Cadogan - Jamie Joachim - Coach Kyle DouganThe 19th FINA World Swimming Championships took place in Budapest, Hungary from 18th June to 3rd July and representing SVG was Carifta silver medalist Jamie Joachim and Olympian Shane Cadogan.
Joachim swam the 100 meters Freestyle and Backstroke, breaking her own 100meters Backstroke record in a time of 1 minute 12.76 seconds for the 13 to 14 years age group. Read more: 19th FINA world Championships
Four Black Sands Swim Squad swimmers competed at the 30th Annual Aquatic Centre International Invitational 2022 swimming championships held from May 27th to 29th in Barbados.
Carifta silver and bronze medalist Kennice Greene competed in a total of 10 individual events in the girls 13 to 14 year age group and put in a dominating performance, winning a total of 5 gold medals (200 IM, 100 Free,100 Fly, 50 Fly and 50 Free); 3 silver medals (50 Back, 200 Free, 100 Breast) and 2 Bronze medals (50 Breast and 100 Back). Read more: 30th Annual Aquatic International Invitational 2022
Kennice at 2022 SVG Time TrialsA total of three National records were broken by Black Sands Swim Squad (BSSS) swimmers at the recent time trials hosted by the SVG Swimming Federation which was held on 20th and 21st May 2022.
In the boys 13-14 age group, Carifta 2022 Bronze medalist Brandon George destroyed the 100m backstroke record by 2.3 seconds, swimming a time of 1:01.57. The record was previously held by Nikolas Sylvester in a time of 1:03.87.Read more: 2022 SVG Time Trials
2022 CARIFTA teamThe Carifta Swimming Championships were held in Barbados April 16th to 19th, 2022. Team SVG had 11 swimmers. We appreciate the support of the National Lottery in helping to fund the swimmers’ participation at this premier Caribbean competition. We also express thanks to the SVG Olympic Committee for their continued support.
Attached are pictures of our National team including Coach Kyle Dougan. The team consisted of Kenale Alleyne, Matthew Ballah, Kevern Dasilva, Brandon George, Bryson George, Kennice Greene, Tia Gun-Munro, Jamie Joachim, Eltonique Leonard, Eltonte Leonard and Zariel Nelson.Read more: 2022 CARIFTA Swimming Championships
Swimmers from Black Sands Swim Squad (BSSS) took part in the SVG Gallagher Invitational National Swimming Championships held on 17th to 20th February 2022.A total of five National records were broken by BSSS swimmers at the meet.Read more: 2022 Gallagher Swimming Championships
Brandon George at 2021 BASA SCBlack Sands Swim Squad (BSSS) swimmer Mr Brandon George took part in the 2021 Barbados National Short Course Swimming Championships held from Tuesday 7th to Sunday 12th December 2021.
With many of his team mates away at other competitions, Brandon took on the Barbadian boys 13 to 14-year-old age group on his own and put in a fantastic swimming performance. Read more: 2021 BASA SC Swim championships
BSSS at 2021 SVG Time TrialsBlack Sands Swim Squad (BSSS) swimmers attended the Time Trials event hosted by the SVG Swimming Federation over two weekends which started on Thursday 24th June and finished on Monday 5th July 2021.A total of eight National records were broken and 124 personal best times were achieved.Read more: 2021 SVG TIME TRIALS
BSSS at 2020 Time TrialsBlack Sands Swim Squad (BSSS) swimmers have spent the last 6 weeks resetting some of St. Vincent’s national swimming records. With the support of the SVG Swimming Federation, BSSS hosted a time trials event for 6 consecutive weekends from 9th May – 13th June.Complying with the recommended social distancing and event holding guidelines in relation to Covid-19, 34 swimmers participated in the time trials which resulted in a total of 14 national records being broken.Read more: 2020 SVG TIME TRIALS
BSSS at BASA 2020Nine Black Sands Swim Squad (BSSS) swimmers competed in the 2020 BASA Long Course National Championships from 3rd– 8th March in Barbados.The small team of nine managed to bring home a total of 52 medals and whilst doing so broke a total of 13 SVG National records.Following in her siblings’ footsteps, Jamie Joachim dominated the girls 11-12 years age group winning 4 gold, 1 silver and 5 bronze medals and was awarded the trophy for overall champion in her age group.Read more: 2020 BASA LC Swim Championships
Living art landscapeBlack Sands Swim Squad raced against the clock out of the pool on Sunday 23rd February when the team took its inaugural community project to clean up and paint the Salvation Army Childrens’ Home in Pembroke.It was swim mom Shivern Peters that brought the project to the attention of Black Sands Coach Kyle Dougan back in January 2020 and together they formed a planning team consisting of Jake Heimann, Loren Gun-Munro and Akin John.Read more: Salvation Army Press Release
BSSS @ CGM Invitational 2020Mia Bailey, Scarlett Hadley, Adriel Bullock, Benjamin Cyrus, Amelia and Dariana Des Vignes, Daniella Clarke, Loic and Lorenz Paul and Dru Samuel also took part in the competition.BSSS Head Coach Kyle Dougan expressed his delight at the fantastic results from the recent competition. He also wanted to give credit and recognition to the BSSS Coaches that work with him, Anne Weinhardt, Kathleen Bute, Jo-Ann Matthews, Tanya Bullock, Fiana McMillan and Edison Stephens who all play a key role in the development of swimming in St Vincent and the Grenadines.Read more: CGM Invitational Championships 2020
Alex Joachim, Aaron DeFreitas - FINA Jr World Championships 2019St Vincent and the Grenadines was well represented at the FINA World Junior Swimming Championships held in Budapest, Hungary from August 20th to 25th, 2019. This competition features the best swimmers from across the world between the ages of 15 and 18 for boys and age 14 to 17 for girls. Aaron Defreitas, 17 years old, and Alex Joachim (age 16) swam representing SVG. Both young men recorded several personal best times as they continue to improve.Read more: Junior World Championships
BSSS at FLOW 201934 swimmers from Black Sands Swim Squad competed in the FLOW SVG National Invitational Swimming Championships which took place on the 14-18 August 2019 at Shrewsbury Aquatic Center.84 swimmers from 5 swimming Clubs took part in the meet and for the 6th consecutive year, Black Sands Swim Squad were crowned the 2019 Club Champions. There were many personal best swims swam at the event and BSSS totaled a medal count of 190 medals; 87 Gold, 68 Silver and 35 Bronze. This fantastic medal count was accompanied by the following swimmers breaking SVG National records.Read more: 2019 FLOW Invitational Swimming Championships
Team Photo: L-R: Alex Joachim, Mya DeFreitas, Shane CadoganSt Vincent and the Grenadines sent three swimmers to compete at the FINA World Championships held in Gwangju, South Korea. The swimming competition was held between July 21st and July 27th. The athletes were Mya Defreitas, Shane Cadogan and Alex Joachim and the coach was Kyle Dougan.Our athletes performed very well with all three either setting personal best times or being very close to those personal best times.Read more: SVGSF at 2019 FINA World Championships
BSSS at 28th BASA Swim MeetThe 28th Annual Aquatic Centre International Swim Meet was held in Barbados from 24th to 26th May 2019 and Black Sands Swim Squad (BSSS) had three swimmers competing, siblings Eltonique and Eltonte’ Leonard and Jamie Joachim.The very competitive meet had over 200 swimmers from Clubs representing Barbados, Antigua, Grenada, St Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines.Read more: 28th Annual Barbados Swim Meet
Open Water SwimmersBequia’s swim team, Rising Stars hosted the 2019 Open Water swim race on Good Friday. Seven BSSS swimmers competed in races varying from the 375m, 750m and 1500 meter distances.Scarlett Hadley swam in the 375m race in the girls 12 and Under category, proudly coming first winning herself a gold medal. Her brother, Joseph Hadley also swam the same distance in the boys 12 & Under category winning himself a silver medal.Next was the 750m distance and it was Black Sands’ Dariana Des Vignes who put up a strong fight and came in second winning a silver medal.Read more: 2019 Bequia Open Water Swim
Carifta 2019 Team
St Vincent and the Grenadines swimmer Shane Cadogan swam to a third place finish and the Bronze medal at the recently concluded CARIFTA Swimming Championships held in Barbados over the Easter weekend. Shane was competing in his final year of Carifta eligibility as a 17 year-old. Shane’s third place time was achieved in the 50 meter Breaststroke event in a time of 30.32 seconds. Read more: SVGSF Continues CARFITA Medal Winning Streak
BSSS at RHAC 2019The 11th – 15th April was the 20th Anniversary of the annual RHAC Invitational Swim Meet in St. Lucia, one of the region’s top swimming competitions with over 390 swimmers from 21 different Clubs across the region.Black Sands Swim Squad sent a team of 18 swimmers to the 4 day competition and returned home to St Vincent with a total of 65 medals, having broken 8 competition records and 3 national records, 5 swimmers winning trophies for overall age group champions and the Club was awarded a trophy for first place team.Read more: RHAC 20th Invitational Swim Meet
BSSS at BASA 2019
18 Black Sands Swim Squad swimmers recently took part in the Barbados National Swimming Championships, from 5th to 10th March held at the 50m Aquatic Center in Barbados.It was the Leonard siblings that shone above the rest with 8 year old Eltonique Leonard winning every event she competed in, bringing home six gold medals. Her Brother, Eltonte’ Leonard won five out of the ten events he competed in, bringing home five gold and five silver medals in the boys 11 to 12 age group.Read more: 2019 BASA National Swimming Championships
Sunday the 17th February concluded the end of the 3rd Annual CGM Swimming Championships, held at Shrewsbury Aquatic Center, Ratho Mill and it was St Vincent’s Black Sands Swim Squad (BSSS) that won Best Club for the third consecutive year.
40 BSSS swimmers took part in the four day competition with every swimmer achieving personal best times. An outstanding performance was given from Mya DeFreitas in the girls 13 to 14 years age group. Read more: 2019 CGM Swimming Championships
Three swimmers from St. Vincent’s Black Sands Swim Squad travelled to Barbados on the 5th December to compete in the annual Barbados Short Course National Swimming Championships and proudly returned on the 9th December with a total of 19 medals.
Competing in the girls 11 to 12 years age group were youngsters Abigail Deshong and Mya DeFreitas. Deshong swam herself to two Bronze medals in the 50 meters breaststroke and the 50 meters butterfly and ended the competition with a remarkable four personal best times. Young Mya DeFreitas battled hard over the five day competition and came home to St. Vincent laden with medals and a need for the record books to be changed into her name. Read more: 2018 Barbados SC National Championships
The third OECS Open Water (OW) Swimming Championships was held in Antigua on Sunday, November 11th, 2018. Open Water swimming (commonly known as OW) involves swimming in race courses set in the ocean. It is a sport suited to our islands where we have a lack of competitive pool facilities. This sport requires dedication and endurance as well as speed.
The OECS Open Water Championships featured 3 distances. The one kilometer (1K) race was open to swimmers 10 years old and under. The three kilometer (3K) race was open to swimmers aged between 11 and 14 while the five kilometer (5K) race was open to swimmers age 15 and over. SVG was represented by 6 swimmers in various age categories. Read more: 28th OECS OW Swimming Championships
The OECS Swimming Championships is an annual event featuring countries from the OECS with competitive Swimming programs. The 28th annual OECS event was held in Antigua, November 8th to 10th, 2018 inclusive. Thanks to financial assistance from the SVG National Lottery, FLOW, Scotiabank, CGM Gallagher and the SVG Olympic Committee, St Vincent and the Grenadines sent a team of 34 swimmers and 2 coaches to this event.
SVG continues to improve by almost every measure in competitive swimming. Our points standing continue to close in on the other islands. Read more: 28th OECS Swimming Championships
The Bequia Traditional Sailing Academy in collaboration with Rising Stars Swim Team and the SVG Swimming Federation hosted its open water swim meet in Bequia on Sunday October 28th as part of the Independence Regatta.
The starting point of the races was at the southern end of the Princess Margaret beach. The course continued up along the coast line, culminating at the Almond trees in Port Elizabeth harbor.Read more: Independence Open Water
Dillon Gooding made St Vincent history books by being the first swimmer from SVG to qualify for the semi finals at the recently held 2018 Commonwealth Games in the Gold Coast, Australia. Gooding was competing in the men’s 50 meter Backstroke. Prior to the race he had mentioned to his Coach, Kyle Dougan, that he felt he stood a good chance of making it through to the semi finals!!
The prelims took place on 6th April 2018 at 11am. The hot mid day sun was causing a lot of swimmers problems due to the blinding glare, but Gooding didn’t let this hold him back and swam an impressive 29.96 seconds, placing fifth in his heat.Read more: 2018 Commonwealth Games
From the 5th to 8th April the Rodney Heights Aquatic Centre (RHAC) in St Lucia held their 19th Invitational swim meet and St Vincent's number one swim club, Black Sands Swim Squad had 14 swimmers attend. The competition consisted of 22 clubs from across the region with over 300 swimmers competing.
Leading the way for Black Sands and following her siblings’ example of success in the pool was 10 year old Jamie Joachim. She swam herself to 6 medals - Read more: Black Sands Place 5th Regionally
Alexander Joachim has become the first SVG swimmer to win Gold at the CARIFTA Swimming Championships. Alex had an impressive CARIFTA performance while swimming in the second year of the Boys age 13 to 14 category. Alex swam in 9 preliminary races over the four days. The preliminaries are swam in the morning sessions with the top eight swimmers progressing to the Finals which are swam in the evenings.
Alex qualified to compete in the finals of 8 events. This was a tremendous display of strength, fitness and stamina and was the first time that a Vincentian swimmer had ever qualified to swim in this many finals. Read more: CARIFTA GOLD for SVG Swimmer
13 swimmers from St Vincent and the Grenadines’ Black Sands Swim Squad recently competed in the Barbados National Swimming Championships from the 28th February to 4th March 2018. It was the swimmers’ first opportunity to compete in a 50 meter pool this year, preparing some of them for the up and coming CARIFTA Games in Jamaica in April and the Commonwealth Games to be held in Australia, also in April.
16 year old Shane Cadogan showed great form at the event, winning 4 gold and 1 silver medal and breaking two St Vincent national records. The 50m butterfly in a time of 26.79 seconds and the 50m breaststroke in a time of 31.08 seconds.Read more: BASA National Swimming Championships 2018
53 Vincentian swimmers represented Black Sands Swim Squad (BSSS) at the CGM Gallagher Invitational Swimming Championships, held at the Shrewsbury Aquatic Center on the 16th to 18th February 2018. This event was the first opportunity the BSSS swimmers have had to compete in 2018 and they certainly showed that hard work pays off.
The BSSS team came away with an amazing total of 210 medals. 85 Gold, 79 Silver and 46 Bronze medals decorated the necks of the young swimmers.
St Vincent and the Grenadines 14 year-old swimmer Alexander Joachim competed at the 2018 Central Region “A” Swimming Championships held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada at the Etobicoke Olympium, February 1st to 4th, 2018. The Central Region championships featured swimmers from more than 25 clubs across central Ontario including Toronto.Alex swims for Black Sands Swim squad in SVG and represents Oakville Aquatic swim club (OAK) in Canada where he is at high school. At the central Regional Champs, where Alex swam as a 14 year-old and represented OAK, his medal winning results were:Read more: Gold Medals for SVG Swimmer
On the 5th to the 10th of December 2017, four Black Sands Swim Squad swimmers competed in the Barbados Short Course National Swimming Championships, bringing home a total of 18 medals. It was a "Perfect 10" for SVG's future CARIFTA contender Eltonte Leonard, who swam himself to a total of “TEN” gold medals. Leonard dominated the boys 9-10yrs age group in every race, setting personal best times and SVG national records along the way.In the 200 meter freestyle he demolished the competition, finishing first and over 15 seconds ahead of the second place Bajan swimmer. By the end of the competition Leonard had won himself a total of 11 medals (10 gold 1 silver) and has now achieved CARIFTA qualifying times in 50m Butterfly and the 50m and 100m Freestyle. Read more: BASA SC Swimming Championships 2017
The OECS Swimming Championships are an annual event featuring countries from the OECS with competitive Swimming programs. The 27th annual OECS event was held in St Lucia November 10th to 12th, 2017. Thanks to financial assistance from the SVG National Lottery, FLOW, Scotiabank, CGM Gallagher and the SVG Olympic Committee, St Vincent and the Grenadines sent a team of 25 swimmers and 2 coaches to this event.SVG continues to improve by almost every measure in competitive swimming. We continue to get closer to the other islands. However, we have the smallest team of about 25 swimmers while the other countries have about 35 swimmers. As a result we are not yet competitive in the team scores part of the competition. However, in the individual swimmer results, we continue to see terrific results.Read more: 27th OECS Swimming Championships
45 Vincentian swimmers represented Black Sands Swim Squad at the 2nd CGM OECS Sprint Challenge, held at the Shrewsbury Aquatic Centre on the 29th and 30th September 2017. This event was the last opportunity for swimmers to qualify for the 2017 OECS Swimming Championships which will be held in St Lucia later this year.The Black Sands Swim Squad came away with a flurry of medals and personal best times. 20 swimmers successfully made the 2017 OECS team selection winning A total of 151 medals, including 66 gold, 53 silver and 32 bronze.Read more: 2017 CGM OECS Sprint Challenge
St Vincent and the Grenadines swimmer Alexander Joachim competed at 2017 Thunderbolts May Grand Prix Swimming Championships held at the Canada Games Complex in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada from May 26th to 28th, 2017. The Grand Prix featured in excess of 380 swimmers representing 15 swim clubs from Canada and the USA.Alex emerged as the overall age group champion in the age 13 to 14 category. He is the only male Vincentian swimmer to be a multiple medalist at CARIFTA and also a multiple medalist at the Caribbean Championships (CISC). This was Alex’s second outing, competing at a major Canadian swimming championships. He had great success in his previous event where he swam as a 13 year-old. This Thunder Bay Grand Prix is his first swim competition after turning 14 year-old; he swam and competed in the 13 to 14 year-old age category.Read more: Alex Joachim wins 8 medals at Grand Prix in Canada
Four swimmers from St Vincent's and the Grenadines Black Sand Swim Squad competed in the 26th Annual Invitational Swim Meet in Barbados from 19th- 21st May, bringing home a flurry of medals and breaking national records.Competing in the 8 years and under category was 6 year old Eltonique Leonard, who swam personal best times in all of her events and managed to swim herself to 6th position in the 50m backstroke against 34 other strong competitors.Read more: Black Sands Swim Squad take Overall 9-10 Champion
St Vincent and the Grenadines’ CARIFTA record holding swimmer Shné Joachim continued her amazing streak of medal winning performances at the CARIFTA Swimming Championships held in the Bahamas April 15th to 18th, 2017.This year’s performance was truly outstanding given that Shné fractured her wrist five weeks earlier and had the cast removed only the day before the CARIFTA Championships started. This severely limited her training and preparation. Shné has now won medals at the CARIFTA level for five consecutive years and in over three different age groups.Swimmers: Nikolas Sylvester, Aaron Defreitas, Bryson George, Alex Joachim and Mya Defreitas also represented SVG. All athletes improved on some of their previous performances.Read more: 5 Years of CARIFTA medals
On the 6th – 10th April 2017 , 21 swimmers from St Vincent’s Black Sands Swim Squad competed in the 18th Rodney Heights Aquatic Centre (RHAC) invitational swim meet, smashing records and bringing home medals and trophies.This highly competitive swim meet hosted 27 clubs from across the region and as far as New York City and had more than 300 swimmers taking part.Read more: Black Sands Swim Squad 3rd place trophy in RHAC
Nine swimmer from St Vincent's Black Sands Swim Squad competed in the Barbados National Swimming Championships from 9th to 12th March 2017, bringing home more medals to add to their collection.Olympian, Nikolas Sylvester added two gold medals to his collection, winning both the 100 meters Breaststroke and Backstroke. Dillon Gooding and Alex Joachim swam themselves onto the medal podium, winning two silver and three bronze medals. Throughout the event Gooding achieved eight personal best times and Joachim five. Aaron Defreitas swam three personal best times and won himself two silver medal and Bryson George came away with one bronze medal and six personal best times.Read more: Olympian wins gold at Barbados National Championships
Two SVG swimmers are competing at the Prairie Winter international Swim meet in Winnipeg. This meet consists of 550 of the best swimmers from all over Canada and more than 30 Swim clubs. SVG’s Carifta record holder and Caribbean Island Swimming Champion Shne Joachim represented her current Canadian swim club, Oakville Aquatics. Shne’s younger brother, Alex, represented local SVG club Black Sands Swim Squad (BSSS). Alex is the only male Vincentian swimmer to be a multiple medallist at Carifta and also a multiple medallist at the Caribbean Championships. Both swimmers performed well at this high level meet but it was Alex’s turn to outshine his more famous sister. Swimming in the 50M Breast stroke, Shne Joachim has placed first, winning gold in a time of 33.33s. This time is the second best time in Canada for 16 year-olds in this event. Alex Joachim has also won gold in the 50 Breast in a time of 34.41s, the second best in Canada among 13 year-olds. Alex has also placed third winning a bronze medal in the 200 meter individual medley. He would be ranked 11th in the 200IM in Canada for his age group.Read more: Gold for SVG Swimming in Winnipeg, Canada
Black Sands Swin Squad at SAC Scotiabank Invitational 2017
Black Sands Swim Squad retained their dominance in swimming excellence as its forty nine competing swimmers won the Top Club Trophy at the third Scotia Bank Invitational swim meet held at Shrewsbury Aquatic Centre from 10th to 12th February 2017.Boys Joshua Weinhardt (1 Silver, 4yrs), Aaron Laidlow (5yrs),Benjamin Cyrus (1 Gold, 6yrs), Joseph Hadley (7yrs), Liam Hadley, Chayse Roberts (3 bronze) and Ethan Balcombe (8yrs) and girls Eltonique Leonard (5 Gold, 6yrs), Amara Eudovique (1 Bronze) and Kathryn Cumberbatch (3 silver and 3 bronze, 8yrs) formed part of the team swimming in the 8 years and under category with each swimmer achieving personal best times.Read more: Black Sands, Overall Champions!!
Five Young Vincentian Swimmers won 1 gold, 11 silver and 4 bronze medals at the annual Barbados Short Course Swimming Championships from 6th to 11th December.The performances of two members of the team qualified them for next year’s CARIFTA Swimming Championships in the Bahamas in April.Mya De Freitas of the Black Sands Swim Club won silver in the 400-metres Girls Freestyle 11-12 age-group with a time of 5 minutes, 17 seconds.Read more: BASA SC Swimming Championships 2016
FINA Team: Kyle Dougan, Aaron DeFreitas, Cruz Halbich, Shne Joachim and Cathy Pardy
Swimming in the 13th FINA Swimming Championships SVG was well represented by Shne Joachim, Cruz Halbich and Aaron DeFreitas. Winning her heat in the 50M Breast; Shne Joachim finished an impressive 37th overall out of the 80 world class swimmers entered in the event. Both Cruz and Aaron earning Personal Best times in some of their events.Read more: FINA Swimming Championships 2016
The 26th Annual OECS Swimming Championships were hosted by the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Swimming Federation at the Shrewsbury Aquatic Centre (SAC) for the first time from November 10th to 13th inclusive. This year the Championships featured over 180 swimmers from Antigua & Barbuda, British Virgin Islands, Grenada, Martinique, St Lucia and SVG. St Martin (French) and Sint Maarten (Dutch) also competed this year as guest team. This is the first year Martinique entered as a competitive team. With all of these participants, the result was the largest ever OECS Swimming Championships. Read more: 26th Annual OECS Swimming Championships - Results
The OECS Swimming Championships are an annual event featuring countries from the OECS with competitive Swimming programs. The 26th annual OECS event will be held in St Vincent November 10th to 13th inclusive. The pool event will be hosted at the Shrewsbury Aquatic Centre for the first three days and the Open Water event will be held on Sunday, November 13th at Villa Beach.This year the Championships feature Antigua, British Virgin Islands, Grenada, Martinique, St Lucia and SVG. St Martin and Sint Maarten will also compete this year as guest team. This is the first year Martinique will be entered as a competitive team. Read more: OECS 2016 Swimming Championships
The Titans Aquatic International swim meet was held at the Barbados Aquatic Centre, Oct. 2013, with 10 Black Sands Swim Squad swimmers competed at the event, which hosted many other highly competitive swimmers from throughout the region. Black Sands swimmers brought back 22 medals at the end of the threeday, highly competitive event, with youngster Alex Joachim leading the way by winning 11 of the 22 medals. Joachim swam himself to top spot winning gold in the boys 11 – 12 years 100 meters backstroke in 1 minute 11.18 seconds, smashing his personal best time.Read more: Black Sands Swim Squad wins 22 medals in Barbados
Blacks Sands Swim Squad triumphed again during a three-day fiercely competitive international swim meet held at the Shrewsbury Aquatic Center held August 26th to 28th.The competition featured swimmers from clubs in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, as well as from Grenada, Trinidad, Barbados and St. Lucia.The swimmers competed in various age group bracket with Black Sands Swim Squad achieving best overall swim club as well as winning best male and female team.
Twenty-one young and talented swimmers ages ranging from 5 to 13, of the Blue Marlins Swim Club demonstrated the thinking behind decorated Olympian, Michael Phelps' "the more you dream the further you get" when they competed in the Flow Invitational at the Shrewsbury Aquatic Centre in August 26th to 28th, 2016. Swim Clubs from Barbados, Tobago, St. Lucia, Grenada, Bequia and St. Vincent competed for medals and age group championships trophies.
R-L: Shne Joachim, Alex Joachim, Cruz Halbich and Shane Cadogan
St Vincent and the Grenadines competed in the 2016 Caribbean Islands Swimming Championships (CISC) held in the Bahamas June 27th to July 3rd, 2016. This is the next level above Carifta swimming and is the premier swimming competition in the Caribbean. This years’ events featured not only the top Caribbean swimmers but swimmers from around the world who were trying to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. The competition featured more than 500 of the best swimmers from 20 Caribbean Countries including Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, the Bahamas, Jamaica, Bermuda, Surinam, Trinidad, Barbados and the OECS islands. In addition athletes from as far away as India and Denmark competed.
Thirteen Vincentian swimmers represented Black Sands Swim Squad in May at the highly competitive 25th Annual Barbados Aquatic Centre Invitational swim meet. A flurry of medals were won by the Black Sands swimmers over the three days of competition which attracted more than 19 swimming clubs from throughout the region. The awards didn't stop at just medals for Black Sands. The club finished the competition claiming the trophy for the top OECS club and also took the third place trophy for the club with the overall highest points.
Blue Marlins Swim Team at RHAC 2016The Blue Marlins quartet comprising Adiah Phillips, Brandon George, Bryson George and Kennice Greene, accompanied by Coach Neisha Alexander, returned with eight medals from a very successful swim meet at the Rodney Heights Aquatic Centre Invitational (RHAC) in St. Lucia. The team placed 16th overall from a field of 25 regional clubs. The Blue Marlins swimmers' whose average age was 9 years old, demonstrated their intent to develop into future regional contenders in the sport of swimming.
Black Sands Swim Squad at RHAC 2016Swimmers from St. Vincent and the Grenadines' Black Sands swim club brought home 22 gold, 13 silver and 7 bronze medals and broke many meet records at the Rodney Heights Aquatic Centre Invitational Swim Meet held in St. Lucia on the weekend of March 31 to April 3.Fifteen swimmers from Black Sands swim squad attended the meet, in which over 300 swimmers from numerous islands across the region Caribbean participated.
Held over two days, 49 swimmers representing Black Sands Swim Squad took part in the CGM sprint challenge held at Shrewsbury Aquatic Center. The competition featured age groups from 6 and under through to 18 and over. The meet took in all of the swimming disciplines and proved highly competitive across the age group spectrum. Black Sands Swim Squad had another successful meet by being named overall club champions with numerous swimmers achieving personal best results. Debuting in their first competitive swimming event were swimmers Kiana Bailey, Isabella Bolls, Benjamin Cyrus, Aidan DeFreitas, Joseph Hadley, Liam Hadley, Noah Hadley, Scarlett Hadley, Aaron Laidlow, Anya Octave, Chayse Roberts and Nexeda Sergant. All rose to the competitive challenge excelling at the meet with some achieving podium finishes.
St. Vincent's Black Sands Swim Squad swimmers had another opportunity to demonstrate their aquatic excellence at the Barbados national Swimming Championships, which took place from February 2th-28th.Swimmers Jamie, Alex and Shne Joachim, Mya and Aaron DeFreitas, Cruz Halbich and Shane Cadogan got into medal winning mode and took on Bajan swimmers in record breaking style.Shne Joachim destroyed the Bajan competition and swam herself into the Barbados record books by breaking the 50 metres Breaststroke record in a time of 35.03 seconds. She demonstrated that she is one of the region's best female breaststroke swimmers and came home with three gold medals
St Vincent and the Grenadines competed in the 2016 CARIFTA Swimming Championships held in Martinique March 22nd to 26th, 2016. The competition featured more than 450 of the best swimmers from 18 Caribbean Countries including the Bahamas, Jamaica, Surinam, French Guyana, Trinidad, Martinique, Guadeloupe and Barbados.
The Scotiabank Invitational Swim Meet was held February 12th to 14th, 2016 at the Shrewsbury Aquatic Center (SAC) in Ratho Mill. The event featured over 75 young swimmers from four swim clubs including Dolphins Swim Club from Grenada and Bequia United Swim Club. The Overall Club Champion was Black Sands Swim Squad followed in second place by Blue Marlins Swim Club.
The CARIFTA Team: Shne Joachim, Shane Cadogan, Nikolas Sylvester, Alex Joachim,Kyle Dougan (Coach)
St Vincent and the Grenadines competed in the 2015 CARIFTA Swimming Championships held in Barbados from April 4th to 7th. The competition featured more than 300 of the best swimmers from 20 Caribbean Countries including the Bahamas, Jamaica, Surinam, French Guyana, Trinidad, Martinique, Guadeloupe and Barbados.
Black Sands Swim Squad (BSSS) swimmers smashed 4 National records and brought home 33 medals from the Barbados Long Course National Championships, which took place from the 27th February to the 3rd March 2024.
The SVG Swimming Federation (SVGSF) hosted its annual SVG Gallagher National Swimming Championships August 24th to 27th, 2023 at the Shrewsbury Aquatic Centre. It was an exciting and highly competitive event. We thank Gallagher insurance brokers for their continued support to the development of swimming in SVG. We are also grateful to the support of the SVG Olympic Committee. This event serves as the primary basis for the selection of our national team to compete at the upcoming OECS Swimming Championships to held in St Lucia, November 10th to 12th.
Read more: 2023 Gallagher Nationals Swimming Championships Results
Four Black Sands Swim Squad swimmers competed at the 30th Annual Aquatic Centre International Invitational 2022 swimming championships held from May 27th to 29th in Barbados.
Carifta silver and bronze medalist Kennice Greene competed in a total of 10 individual events in the girls 13 to 14 year age group and put in a dominating performance, winning a total of 5 gold medals (200 IM, 100 Free,100 Fly, 50 Fly and 50 Free); 3 silver medals (50 Back, 200 Free, 100 Breast) and 2 Bronze medals (50 Breast and 100 Back).
Read more: 30th Annual Aquatic International Invitational 2022
Swimmers from Black Sands Swim Squad (BSSS) took part in the SVG Gallagher Invitational National Swimming Championships held on 17th to 20th February 2022.
A total of five National records were broken by BSSS swimmers at the meet.
Read more: 2022 Gallagher Swimming Championships
St. Vincent's Black Sands Swim Squad swimmers had another opportunity to demonstrate their aquatic excellence at the Barbados national Swimming Championships, which took place from February 2th-28th.
Swimmers Jamie, Alex and Shne Joachim, Mya and Aaron DeFreitas, Cruz Halbich and Shane Cadogan got into medal winning mode and took on Bajan swimmers in record breaking style.
Shne Joachim destroyed the Bajan competition and swam herself into the Barbados record books by breaking the 50 metres Breaststroke record in a time of 35.03 seconds. She demonstrated that she is one of the region's best female breaststroke swimmers and came home with three gold medals
St Vincent and the Grenadines competed in the 2016 CARIFTA Swimming Championships held in Martinique March 22nd to 26th, 2016. The competition featured more than 450 of the best swimmers from 18 Caribbean Countries including the Bahamas, Jamaica, Surinam, French Guyana, Trinidad, Martinique, Guadeloupe and Barbados.
