Patokie claims bronze for Guyana at Goodwill Swimming Championships

Malakhiy Patokie secured Guyana’s first medal across the opening two sessions of the 2026 Goodwill Swimming Championships in Trinidad and Tobago (T&T), when he placed third in the Boys’ 11-12 100-metre breaststroke on Saturday morning.
The 12-year-old finished in 1 minute, 18.87 seconds, behind T&T’s Kamden Williams and Jamaica’s Steven Hoo Fung. Williams won in a meet-record time of 1:16.26, while Hoo Fung took second in 1:17.63.
Patokie’s bronze followed a promising performance on Friday evening, when he narrowly missed the podium in the 50-metre breaststroke. He placed fifth in 36.56 seconds, just 0.44 seconds behind third-place finisher Fraser Menzies of The Bahamas.

The Guyanese also contested several other events over the two sessions. He finished seventh in the 200-metre individual medley in 2:42.88 and eighth in the 50-metre butterfly in 31.56 seconds on Saturday. He was ninth in Friday’s 100-metre backstroke in 1:16.68 and 11th in the 100-metre freestyle in 1:03.88.
Guyana’s Boys’ 11-12 team produced the country’s best relay placing on Friday, finishing fourth in the 400-metre medley relay in 6:26.47.
Other Guyanese competing during the opening session included Akeisha Pulmeyere, Yadhira and Yadhav Toocaram, Jelani Odinga, Makeen Hope, Zidan John, Kyra Soares, Aria McKoy, Alianna Stellingburg and several younger swimmers.
On Saturday, Pulmeyere placed 14th in both the Girls’ 13-14 200-metre individual medley and 100-metre breaststroke. She recorded 3:11.46 in the medley and 1:40.73 in the breaststroke.
In the morning relays, Guyana finished fifth in the Girls’ 9-10 200-metre medley relay in 3:01.86. The Girls’ 11-12 team was sixth in 3:04.67, while the Boys’ 15-17 combination also placed sixth after clocking 2:08.15.

Several championship records were broken during the two sessions. Trinidad and Tobago, the Bahamas, Jamaica and Barbados were among the leading teams.
Among Friday’s record-breakers were Williams in the Boys’ 11-12 50-metre breaststroke, Trinidad and Tobago’s Jannai Applewhaite in the Boys’ 15-17 100-metre freestyle and Jamaica’s Renae Chung in the Girls’ 15-17 100-metre freestyle.
The high standard continued on Saturday, with Williams breaking another record in the 100-metre breaststroke. T&T also set new marks in the Boys’ and Girls’ 15-17 200-metre medley relays, while The Bahamas established records in the Girls’ 8-and-under, Girls’ 11-12 and Boys’ 13-14 medley relays.
The championships began on Friday and were scheduled to conclude on Sunday.