CAC Games 2026…
- Lewis takes a 50-metre national record
OLYMPIAN Raekwon Noel secured his second gold medal, this time in the men’s 200-metre butterfly at the Central America and Caribbean (CAC) Games, being hosted in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
The US-based Guyanese swimmer took seconds off his national 200-metre butterfly and the CAC Games record on his way to taking a final win.
He swam 1 minute 56.82 seconds, which set a new games record, comfortably beating off Venezuelan swimmer Manuel Diaz and Mexico’s Rafael Arizpe to the podium.
Erick Gordillo held the old games record of 2 minutes 00.97 seconds set at the games in 2023.
This was his second gold medal after winning a gold in the 200m on Tuesday.
Earlier on Wednesday, Noel won his men’s 200-metre butterfly heat in 1 minute 59.52 seconds a new national record to beat Andres Brooks of Puerto Rico and El Salvador’s Ventura Rodrigo.
He went into the 200-metre butterfly finals as the number one ranked swimmer.
On Thursday, again Noel placed himself at a striking distance of a third gold in the 100-metre butterfly.
He won his heat with a scorching 53.28 seconds in the 100-metre boys’ butterfly event. He again goes into the finals as the fastest qualifier.
Otaiza Jorge was second and Kirlew Josh third in the heat.
Meanwhile, Shareefah Lewis again beat the odds to capture another national record.
Lewis, who has found it hard to prepare without the Olympic-size pool at the National Aquatic Centre, has found a way to continue improving with third place in the 50-metre backstroke heat.
She beat the previous record of 32.11 seconds held by Ariel Rodrigues, done last year in Trinidad and Tobago, with a time of 31.73 seconds
The mark meant that she barely missed out on a place in the final, finishing 23rd while only the top 20 advanced.
She also reset the national 50-metre freestyle record earlier this week becoming the first Guyanese woman to go under 27 seconds erasing the old record of 27.42 set by Olympian Aleka Persaud with a time of 26.95 seconds.
