The Guyana swim team returned from the recently concluded Inter-Guiana Games that was held in Paramaribo, Suriname over the last weekend with a total of 17 medals.
According to reported results from the Guyana Amateur Swimming Association (GASA), Guyana ended third in the swimming segment of the tri-nation event, after accumulating 114 points.
Suriname won the division with 251 points, while French Guiana was second with 183 points.
Guyana’s medal haul included two gold, one silver and 15 bronze medals.
Guyana’s performance was led by junior girls’ swimmer Britany van Lange lead who won both gold medals.
She also captured a bronze medal in the girls’ 4x100m freestyle relay where she teamed up with Soroya Simmons, Onika George and Athena Gaskin.
Following her performance at the Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, van Lange flew to Suriname just in time to participate on the second day of the competition
to strike gold in the 100m and 200m freestyle events.
The singular silver medal came from Ronaldo Rodrigues in the 100m breaststroke event.
He also won a bronze medal in the 200m individual medley (IM).
Rodrigues also captured two more bronze medals in the boys 4x100m freestyle and 4x100m IM relays.
The other participants of the boys relay team were Jaime Jabar, Mark Jardim and Joseph Seguina.
Simmons, Gaskin and George also earned one bronze medal apiece from individual performances in the 100m backstroke, 200m freestyle and 400m freestyle events, respectively.
All other medals were achieved by the individuals who participated in the relay events.
This swim meet is a 19-year-and-under event, meaning that the swimmers compete in one overall category and not in their respective age categories.
Guyana fielded a team of 12 swimmers that included three of the country’s youngest swimmers in Accalia Khan, Jameela Sanmoogan and Hannibal Gaskin who were all making their first appearance at the IGG.
Khan achieved improved timings in the 200m individual medley and the 100m butterfly evens while Gaskin improved his time in the 200m freestyle, a GASA release said.
Additionally, both Jabar and Seguina delivered valiant efforts in spite of injuries sustained while swimming at the games.
Of the performances of the swimmers in Suriname GASA says that the association was very pleased with the dedication and performance of the swimmers as they overcame training challenges and limited swimming hours, which in particular need to be non-issues in order to achieve top performances at this level of competition.
Apart from swimming, the Games also saw the three countries vying in athletics, chess volleyball, football, basketball, and cycling. Overall at the Games Guyana ended in second position behind Suriname with French Guiana in the cellar.
