The 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. We congratulate Antigua and Grenada in their tie for first place as the overall Team Champions of OECS Swimming. SVG finished 3rd overall (with the Boys in second and the Girls in third). The SVG performance was very impressive given we had a team of 26 swimmers while the joint winners had teams of 34 swimmers.
Team SVG thanks the St Vincent and the Grenadines Olympic Committee and the National Lottery for assisting with funding. SVG will host the OECS Swimming Championships in 2024 and we hope to obtain support from the National Lottery and the private sector to help us to put on an excellent event.
Our team comprised a total of 26 swimmers (14 males and 12 females) and we were the first country to include a para-athlete (Kentreal Kydd) in our team.
The SVG Swimming Federation are very pleased at the results of our individual swimmers. Twelve years ago, SVG swimming won a total of 4 bronze medals by two swimmers and we were very pleased at that time. This year Team SVG brought home a total of 92 individual medals (72 last year) which included 29 Golds, 33 Silvers and 30 bronze medals. In addition, our relay teams won 2 gold, 6 silvers and 3 bronze medals. Twenty-two of the twenty-six Team SVG swimmers brought home medals and three swimmers broke OECS records. This is clear evidence of the tremendous progress that has been made.
Special congratulations to:
- Matthew Ballah won the overall age group (age 13 to 14) championship with 87 points. He won seven gold medals, two silvers and one bronze.
- Tayeah St Hilaire accumulated 84 points in winning the overall girls age 11 to 12 category. She won 6 gold medals and three silver medals. Tayeah also broke the 100 meters butterfly OECS record.
- Kennice Greene broke 3 OECS records in the 50 and 100 meter Butterfly events as well as the 50 meter Freestyle event. She was the overall champion in the girls age 15 to 17 age group. Kennice finished with 5 gold medals, 1 silver and 2 bronze medals.
- Zariel Nelson (girls age 13 to 14) broke the OECS 50 meter Freestyle record in her age group while picking up the Gold. She also won a silver medal.
- Our relay teams were very successful with 2 gold medals, 6 silver and 3 bronze medals. This included:
- Gold in the Boys 200 meter Medley relay (age 11 to 14 category) swam by Matthew Ballah, Tyler Robinson, Hazen Dabriel and Seth Byron.
- Gold in Mixed 200 meter Freestyle relay (age 11 to 14) swam by Matthew Ballah, Tayeah St Hilaire, Zariel Nelson and Seth Byron.
- Silver in the Girls 200 meter Medley relay (age 11 to 14) swam by Kathyrn Cumberbatch, Eltonique Leonard, Tayeah St Hilaire and Zariel Nelson.
- Silver in the Girls 15 and over 200 meter Medley relay swam by Kevern DaSilva, Abigail Deshong, Kennice Greene and Rhema Robinson.
- Silver in the Mixed age 10 & under 200 meter Freestyle relay swam by Caghry Williams, Belle Adams, Kione Deshong and Skylar Byron.
- Silver in the Mixed 15 and over 200 meter Freestyle relay swam by Eltonte Leonard, Abigail Deshong, Kennice Greene and Kenale Alleyne.
The future looks bright for SVG swimming with some excellent results including:
- Caghry Williams (Boys age 9 to 10) won two golds, 5 silvers and 1 bronze medal. He finished with 59 points and was second in his overall age group championship.
- Kione Deshong (Boys age 9 to 10) won two golds, 2 silvers and four bronze medals. He was third in his overall age group championship.
- Belle Adams (Girls age 9 to 10) won 1 gold, 3 silvers and 1 bronze medal. She placed second in her overall age group championship.
- Ayibanua (Nua) Griffith (girls age 8 & under) won 5 silver medals and placed second overall in her age group.
- Eltonique Leonard (girls 11 to 12) won 2 silver and 5 bronze medals while placing 3rd overall in her age group.
- Hazen Dabriel (boys age 13 to 14) won 2 silver and 3 bronze medals.
- Nikolas Sylvester (boys age 18 & over) won 1 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze medals while placing 3rd overall in his age group.
Additional individual medal winners were as follows:
- Tyler Robinson (boys age 11 to 12) won 2 gold medals.
- Seth Byron (boys 13 to 14) won 5 bronze medals.
- Kenale Alleyne (boys 18 & over) won 1 silver and 3 bronze medals.
- Saj Caesar (boys age 8 & under) won 1 gold medal.
- Eltonte Leonard (boys age 15 to 17) won 1 gold medal.
- Kevern DaSilva (girls 15 to 17) won 2 silver medals.
- Abigail Deshong (girls 15 to17) won 2 silver medals.
- Brandon George (boys 15 to 17) won 1 silver medal.
- Amelia DesVignes (girls 8 & under) won 1 bronze medal.
- Rheema Robinson (girl 15 to 17) won 1 bronze medal.
SVG also had the youngest swimmer (Zane Dabriel) in the competition. Zane swan as 5 year old in the boys age 8 & under category and performed credibly.
We also note that a total of 9 SVG national records were set. Kennice set five new national standards, while Belle Adams, Caghry Williams, Kione Deshong and Tayeah St Hilaire broke one record each.
Special thanks to our Head Coach, Kyle Dougan and his assistant, Tamarah St Hilaire. Also, special appreciation to Brain George on his excellent work as Team Manager.
We look forward to hosting the 32nd OECS Swimming Championships in SVG in November 2024.
For results and records: