From April 9 to 12, 17 athletes from Grenada’s Grenfin Swim Club turned in a standout performance at the 26th RHAC Invitational hosted by Rodney Heights Aquatic Centre in St. Lucia. Competing against 30 other elite swim clubs from across the Caribbean, the small Grenadian team outperformed expectations to claim 29 total medals, cementing 7th place in the overall team rankings, with the men’s squad finishing 4th and the women’s squad taking 8th. The team not only claimed multiple podium positions across age-group championship divisions but also set new competition records, marking a historic showing for the non-profit organization.
Multiple Grenfin swimmers delivered career-defining races at the four-day event. Leading the charge was Kaleb Williams, a competitor in the boys’ 15–17 age group, who claimed three gold medals and smashed two meet records that had stood since 2023. Williams obliterated the previous 400m individual medley mark of 5:53.05, clocking a new record time of 5:35.54. He also broke the 200m breaststroke record, finishing in 2:42.02 to beat the old time of 2:58.28. Beyond his three golds, Williams added three bronze medals to his haul in the 50m breaststroke, 100m butterfly, and 200m individual medley.
In the boys’ 9–10 division, Keshon Cobb delivered an equally impressive performance, securing third place overall in the age-group championship. Cobb claimed gold in the 50m butterfly, four silver medals in the 50m backstroke, 50m freestyle, and 400m freestyle, and four additional bronze medals in the 200m freestyle, 200m individual medley, 100m backstroke, and 50m breaststroke. He also finished second overall in both the 25m and 50m sprint challenge events for his age group.
Other Grenfin athletes also earned podium finishes across their divisions. In the girls’ 11–12 age group, Evie Twum-Barimah took silver in both the 800m and 1500m freestyle, plus bronze in the 200m and 50m butterfly. Teammate Llewella Bernard added another bronze to the club’s count in the girls’ 11–12 800m freestyle. For the older boys’ 15–17 division, Mark Mitchell claimed a silver in the 50m freestyle and two third-place finishes in the 25m and 50m sprint challenges, while Tariq Bethel rounded out individual results with a silver in the 50m breaststroke and bronze in the 50m butterfly.
The club’s success extended to relay competition as well. The 15-and-over boys’ relay team, made up of Williams, Mitchell, Reuben Bernard, and Bethel, claimed three silver medals in the 400m freestyle relay, 200m medley relay, and 200m freestyle relay.
In a remarkable team-wide achievement, every single Grenfin swimmer set new personal best times across multiple events throughout the invitational. In total, 93% of all swims recorded by the team resulted in new personal bests, a statistic that head coach Gerson Escobar highlighted as one of the meet’s biggest wins. Escobar, who accompanied the team alongside participating parents, praised the squad’s grit and progress over the four days of competition.
“I am very happy with the performance of all 17 swimmers,” Escobar said. “They achieved 93% personal best times and several competition records. It is important for swimmers to have the opportunity and exposure at regional and international levels. We will continue to work on their competition readiness. I applaud them for their achievements.”
Based in Grenada, Grenfin Swim Club is a non-profit organization that serves swimmers of all skill levels, from introductory learn-to-swim programming to elite competitive training. For more information about the club, interested parties can reach out via email at [email protected]