..-Win over half of the events at Aquatics Centre

By Faizool Deo
NORTH GEORGETOWN defended their swimming title in fine style yesterday by winning over half of the 54 events carded, to keep their dominance in the pool leg of the National Schools Cycling, Swimming and Track and Field Championships in tack.

At the end of a packed day of competition, the multiple-time champions had amassed 434 points from 27 first place finishes.
Their main rivals, Upper Demerara-Kwakwani were again second, but the battle was not fierce. The District 10 team finished with 319 points from six overall wins. Although they did not accumulate as many victories, they were able to gather crucial points within many of the events.

East Georgetown finished third with 213 points, followed by Cuyuni-Mazaruni (189), South Georgetown (173), Rupununi (132), Essequibo Coast and Pomeroon (127), North West (107), East Coast District (63), Essequibo Islands/West Demerara (57), East Bank Demerara (45), West Berbice (9), Mahdia (8), Corentyne (7) and New Amsterdam (5).
The measure of North’s dominance was on display in the 200M freestyle relays, which they dominated.

The females exploded with an over 12-second win, while the males won by over five seconds.
In the female battle, the team of Amber DeGoeas, Monique Watson, Patrice Mahaica and anchor Amy Grant stormed to victory in 2:06.38, while East Georgetown finished second in 2:20.47 anchored by 12-year-old sensation, Aleka Persaud. Upper Demerara-Kwakwani were third in 2:27.97, with South Georgetown fourth.

The male team of Fitzroy Thom, Jonathan Sookram, Telford George and anchor Leon Seaton pushed the team to victory in 1:49.50. East Georgetown finished second in a time of 1:56.28, with Upper Demerara-Kwakwani again placing third (1:57.59s).

A number of swimmers excelled in the individual events, including Seaton, George, Amy Grant, Latisha Blair from South Georgetown, and Nikhil Persaud from North Georgetown, who all won three individual races. Other swimmers such as Aleka Persaud from East Georgetown, Noel Raekwon from East Coast, Jasmin Allen from North Georgetown and Coleen Stephen from the Rupununi also performed well.

Aleka Persaud proved her superiority when she swam the 50M freestyle in 28.68s. The 12-year-old won in a faster time than the 16 and Under Girls’ winner, Latisha Blair (31.05s) and the 18 and Under Girls’ winner, Amy Grant (30.85s).
Manager of the North Georgetown team, Tiffani Hinds, credited the support of the parents of the athletes and the schools for their success.

She said that most of the athletes were from swimming clubs and it showed with their performances.
There were a lot of improvements by some of the non-traditional winners, including the Rupununi, which finished with their best performance to date.
As in previous years, the non-club swimmers again had problems with the turns in the pool, which slowed down their timings.