Set aside for a moment the brilliance of Javon Roberts, Tianna Springer, Anisha Gibbons and the rest of the medal winning track athletes, Raekwon Noel’s blockbuster five-gold haul in swimming took the cake in an outstanding Easter weekend of exploits for young Guyanese athletes. It was not only heroic but one of the all-time best performances by any Guyanese in international individual competitions.
Unfair it would be to compare Noel’s exploits to much more difficult senior level competition, being a Regional junior level feat, but Noel’s bag of medals feat stands head and shoulders above any medal winning effort by any Guyanese representative in an Olympic discipline since this country’s debut participation at the 1948 Games.
