Pan American Games 2023: Persaud rewrites butterfly record

…Williamson challenges familiar foe in boxing bout

Story and photos by Jemima Holmes
It was another day of see-saw results for Guyana’s Pan American Games team in Santiago, Chile on Sunday, with the athletes in action in the disciplines of boxing and swimming.
The day’s high point saw swim prodigy Aleka Persaud resetting yet another national swimming record at the Centro Acuatico in Santiago.
Persaud was the first Guyanese in action on the day and started on a good note with a victory in Heat 1 of the women’s 100m butterfly event. The teenager clocked 1:05.75 to win the heat, while Independent Athlete Maria Morales clocked 1:07.93 for second place, St Vincent’s Kennice Greene stopped the clock at 1:09.03 for third place.

Although the time was not adequate enough to grant Persaud passage into the 100m butterfly final, it marked a new national record for Guyana in that event.
The previous record of 1:07.24 was set by Persaud back in 2022 at the Commonwealth Games.
Speaking about the achievement, the 17-year-old expressed relief at being able to reset the record again.
Persaud shared, “I felt very relaxed with my race; I executed it exactly how I wanted it to be and I’m very elated that I improved my time. I took a little, like a weight off of my shoulders, knowing that I did what I came to do.”
“Yes, it is my goal and I’m praying that my next two races, I try to improve my times in both of the events,” the swimmer said about her upcoming events.
Coach Sean Baksh expressed satisfaction, not only with Persaud’s performance, but also with that of her teammate Raekwon Noel.

“So far, it’s going good, I think we have better things to come. They certainly will improve in their next two events that they have. I expect that they will shine,” the Coach stated.
He went on to divulge, “They are not at the top of this, but they certainly will improve on their times. And that is what our aim is, to improve on our times gradually and we’ll get to the top one of these days. We’re working to get there.”
Later on in the evening, Joel Williamson had a tough task ahead of him, being pitted against International Boxing Association (IBA) number one ranked boxer (in his weight class) Alexy Miguel De La Cruz of the Dominican Republic, in the Men’s 63.5Kg division.

De La Cruz is a familiar foe for the Guyanese boxing team, having bested Keevin Allicock back in 2021 at the Tokyo Olympic Games.
In spite of the numerous accolades that De La Cruz currently has to his name, including the Pan American 2019 Bronze medal; Guyana’s Williamson was fearless heading into the ring at the Centro Nacional de Entrenamiento Olimpico and went pound for pound with De La Cruz, for an impressive showing in the first round.
However, De La Cruz distinguished himself in the remaining rounds with his agility and taunting tactics.
Williamson eventually lost the bout by way of unanimous decision on points to the Dominican.
Speaking with Guyana Times Sport following the bout, Williamson was more than pleased with his ability to rival the world champion in his first Pan American Games outing.
“The fight was great. Actually, it was a tough fight as for my first Pan Am Games fighting a world champion. I think I did very well, fighting a world champion and I’m proud of myself,” Williamson related.
The boxer went on to add, “Well, mindset was to go there and fight hard. Lose hard or win, but pressure he, you know. Just go out and do your best, put your best foot forward and the better man win.”
The Pan Am Games action will continue today with Allicock battling for a chance to at least secure a bronze medal. Allicock will come up against USA’s Jahmal Harvey in the men’s 57kg division. Additionally, both Persaud and Noel will hit the pool again in the women’s 100m freestyle and men’s 800m freestyle respectively.