Thirty-two swimmers from Black Sands Swim Squad (BSSS) competed in the SVG Gallagher Invitational National Swimming Championships held from the 12th to 15th September 2024. Other Clubs competing were Blue Marlins Swim Club, H2O Lions from Leeward and Sail Fish Swim Club from Grenada.
This year, reigning champions BSSS were beaten by Blue Marlins who won overall club champion for the competition. BSSS won a total of 147 medals during the competition (46 Gold, 53 Silver and 48 Bronze).
Four National records were broken by BSSS swimmers at the meet. Olympian Kennice Greene broke the girls 15 to 16 years and the open age group record in the 50m freestyle in a time of 26.37 seconds, a record previously held by Sh’ne Joachim. Greene also broke her own record in the 50m butterfly in a time of 28.64 seconds.
Matthew Ballah was also in record breaking form and broke his 15 to 16 year age group record in the 50m backstroke in a time of 27.77 seconds, previously 27.80 seconds.
Kentreal Kydd, SVG’s 2024 Paralympian smashed his 50m butterfly record by 2.11 seconds, swimming a new record time of 39.69 seconds.
The BSSS individual sprint champions for the competition were:
Ira Hadley, girls 8 and under age group.
Kione Deshong, boys 9 to 12 age group.
Kennice Greene, girls 15 and over age group, also winning overall age group champion.
Matthew Ballah, boys 15 and over age group, also winning overall age group champion.
BSSS Head Coach Kyle Dougan said “Congratulations to ALL the swimmers that took part. Also, congratulations to Blue Marlins Swim Club for winning overall club champions. Swimming in St. Vincent and the Grenadines continues to go from strength to strength and I encourage more youngsters to get involved in the sport.”
BSSS would like to thank Tus-T Water for becoming the new club sponsor and helping support the sport of swimming.
