Joachim cops bronze for SVG at CARIFTA Swimming Championships

For the first time, a Vincentian swimmer has won a medal in swimming at the CARIFTA games.{{more}}

Shne Joachim won the bronze medal in the 50 metre breaststroke in the 11 to 12-year-old category at the CARIFTA Swimming Championships in Jamaica, from March 29 to April 3, 2013.

Shne swam a personal best time of 36.81 seconds and missed out on the gold medal by 0.78 of a second. She also qualified for the finals in the 100 metre breaststroke and finished eighth. Shne swam a total of seven races, qualified for two finals and set four personal best times.

Also representing St Vincent and the Grenadines, Chavez Joseph, Shane Cadougan and Cruz Halbich swam in the 11 to 12-year-old category. Chavez swam in five races and set four personal best times. Shane swam in seven races and set four personal best times. Storm Halbich swam in the 13 to 14-year-old category and swam nine races, while setting personal best times in six events.

The CARIFTA Swimming Championships is the top swimming event in the Caribbean and features the region’s best swimmers between the ages of 11 and 17.

“This is the first medal won by a Vincentian swimmer since we have been keeping records,” a release from the SVG Amateur Swimming Association (SVGASA) said.

More than 400 swimmers, representing 18 countries, participated at CARIFTA. The coach of the SVG team was Kyle Dougan.

The next national team event will be the World Championships, to be held in Barcelona, Spain from July 28 to August 5, 2013. The team to represent St Vincent and the Grenadines will be selected in early May, after the upcoming RHAC Invitational, to be held in St. Lucia from April 11 to 14, 2013.

Meanwhile, the SVGASA has announced the launch of its new website, www.svgswimming.com

A release from the Association says the site includes the Association’s calendar of events, press releases, contact information, motivational times and photos.