The 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.
The medal winners were as follows:
- Eltonte’ Leonard – 8 Gold – 2 Silver
- Eltonique Leonard – 5 Gold – 5 Silver
- Kione Deshong – 7 Gold – 2 Silver
- Abigail Deshong – 3 Gold – 4 Silver
- Mya DeFreitas – 6 Gold – 2 Silver – 1 Bronze
- Aaron DeFreitas – 1 Bronze
- Bryson George – 4 Gold – 1 Silver – 4 Bronze
- Jamie Joachim – 3 Gold – 1 Silver – 2 Bronze
- Kevern DaSilva – 2 Gold
- Tia Gun-Munro – 1 Silver
Overall age group champions:
- Kione Deshong – Boys 6 yrs & under
- Abigail Deshong – Girls 11-12 yrs
- Eltonte Leonard – Boys 11-12 yrs
- Mya DeFreitas – Girls 13-14 yrs
- Bryson George – Boys 13-14 yrs
Competition Records:
- Mya DeFreitas – 1500m free, 800 free, 400 free
- Eltonique Leonard – 25 & 50 fly
- Eltonte Leonard – 50 free
- Jamie Joachim – 1500 free
- Kione Deshong – 100 breast
National records:
- Mya DeFreitas – 200 & 1500 free, 200 fly
- Kevern DaSilva – 50 back
Non-medal winning swimmers that attended the competition were Adriel Bullock, Akayla Crichton, Naira John, Alexander Cyrus, Anwar Medjahed, Brandon George, Mia Bailey and Cruz Halbich. Although they were unable to win any medals, they all swam personal best times.
Head Coach Kyle Dougan says “This highly competitive swim meet gave our swimmers a great opportunity to improve their times. They have put the hard work in training and it was a real privilege to witness the fantastic results from that hard work. I am absolutely delighted that BSSS were able to win the trophy for Top Club. The competition was very strong so it feels like a great achievement. Well done to all the BSSS swimmers and coaching staff.”