LEVEL 3 swimming coach Sean Baksh called 15-year-old Aleka Persaud’s record-breaking feat at last weekend’s Bahamas National an amazing achievement.
The CARIFTA gold-medal winner (three in 2019 broke the national 100m freestyle record and registered two third-place finishes in the packed swimming meet.
Since it was being used as an Olympic qualifier, the event attracted some 40 teams.
Persaud broke the national 50m freestyle record in Nassau by clocking a time of 28.10s, which eclipses the 28.15s clocked by Olympian Brittany Van Lange.
Persaud however broke it at a younger age. “Outstanding performance from Aleka – doing it from the 13-14 age group – since Brittany did it in the 15-17 age group, so she did it from a lower age group.” Baksh added that the performance was extraordinary because Persaud was able to excel during the pandemic.
“I am very pleased with her performance given the setbacks brought on by COVID-19 and not being able to train for almost 10 months …. right now we are playing catch up with the other Caribbean countries that have been back in the water since last year, So for her to be able to beat Brittany’s record it’s a great achievement.”

The record-breaking performance earned her a third-place finish against quality regional opponents. She also finished third in the 100m freestyle and made the final in her other two events.
Persaud swam in the 13-14 age group because she turned 15 this year. She was 14 on December 31, 2020, the date used to set the age categories.
In The Bahamas, the teen was joined by three other swimmers from the Orca Speed Swim Club, who all registered personal-best performances.
Ariel Rodrigues, who also swam in the 13-14 age group, dropped 30 seconds in the 50m freestyle and 11 seconds in the 100m freestyle. Nathan Jackson improved in the 50m freestyle and the 50m breaststroke, while Daniel Claxton (15-17 age group), marginally improved his 50m freestyle (from 26:86s to 26.58s).
The club’s trip to The Bahamas was made possible through the support of Modern Optical Service, Ad Tech Printing, John Fernandes, Nigel’s Pharmacy, Copy Kat, Mr Andrew Forrester from Forrester Lumber Yard and Building Complex, Paul Bacchus, Paula Stoby, Troy Claxton, Delroy Joseph, Daniel Jaisingh and Jermaine Samaroo.