National swimmer Aleka Persaud has become the first local female swimmer to go below the one-minute mark in the 100-metre freestyle event.
Persaud stopped the clock at 59.70 seconds during the ongoing FINA World Swimming Championships in the United Arab Emirates where she is competing alongside countrymen, Patrice Mahaica and Raekwon Noel.
According to Persaud’s coach, Sean Baksh in an invited comment, “This is a historic record since Aleka is only 15, she would have been the first female to go under a minute in the history of swimming in Guyana so that in itself is a fantastic achievement.”
Baksh added, “We are moving forward with our training, we are doing a lot of work, we did some heavy work at some high altitude while we were in Peru and she did some work in Colombia before we came and that is having a positive effect on her performance here right now.”
The coach explained that after her last event on December 20th, she would be taking a break before returning to the pool in January.
Meanwhile, Mahaica also set a new national record while achieving a personal best of 1.12.24 minutes in the 100m backstroke event.
Noel, on the other hand, had a personal best in the 200m freestyle race clocking in 2.06.28 minutes and 1.00.25 minutes in the 100m butterfly event.
