THE Government of Guyana, through the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, has intensified its support for record-breaking swimmer Raekwon Noel as he begins his long-term preparation toward the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport Charles Ramson Jr., alongside Minister within the Ministry Steven Jacobs and Director of Sport Steve Ninvalle, recently met with the 20-year-old standout and his mother, Ushaka Noel, to map out the requirements for his continued athletic development.
During the engagement, financial assistance was presented to Noel to address his immediate training needs. Comprehensive discussions centered on establishing high-performance training camps, structured elite development programmes, entry into key international competitions, and dedicated nutritional support.
The intervention follows Noel’s historic performance at the 2026 Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, where he delivered Guyana’s most successful swimming campaign in the history of the Games by capturing three Gold medals and establishing three new Games records.
Noel opened his campaign in dominant fashion, winning the men’s 200-metre individual medley in 1:59.35. The performance established new national and CAC Games records, making him the first swimmer in CAC Games history to break the two-minute barrier in the event.
He secured his second Gold in the men’s 200-metre butterfly, clocking 1:56.82 to surpass the previous Games record of 1:57.03. The effort was just outside his Guyanese national record of 1:56.62 set earlier in 2026.
Following a fifth-place finish in the men’s 100-metre butterfly final (53.58 seconds) after winning his heat in 53.28 seconds, Noel made the tactical decision to withdraw from the 100-metre backstroke to conserve energy following consecutive late nights associated with post-race anti-doping procedures.
That decision paid off in the men’s 200-metre freestyle, where he surged to Gold in a national and CAC Games record time of 1:47.08, eclipsing the previous mark of 1:47.19 established by Mexico’s Jorge Iga in 2018.
Having concluded the Santo Domingo Games with Gold medals in the 200m individual medley, 200m butterfly, and 200m freestyle, the Government of Guyana and the Ministry reaffirmed their full commitment to supporting Noel and his technical team on the journey to Los Angeles 2028.
