Guyana’s Raekwon Noel strikes gold in CAC Games with record-shattering 200m performance

Guyana: The Guyanese swimming star Raekwon Noel has captured his second gold medal in two finals at the 2026 XXV Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on Tuesday night, shattering both national and Games record in the men’s 200m Individual Medley (IM).

Guyana’s swimming standout marked a historic milestone by powering to gold in the evening’s A final, clocking an absolute best of 1:59.35s.

Along with that, Noel became the first Guyanese swimmer to break the sub-two-minute-barrier in the event. He also smashed his own national record, set earlier in the morning and established a brand-new CAC Games record (RCCG).

In the final round, Noel presented a masterclass performance in the final to hold off Mexico’s Humberto Najera, who clocked at 2:00.07 and claimed silver, along with Guatemala's Erick Gordillo, who claimed bronze in 2:01.73s.

Noel marked an equally dominant morning session at the Juan Pablo Duarte Aquatic Center where he first served notice by registering 2:01.73s to win, leading to his golden swim in the final.

The morning performance significantly erased his previous national mark of 2:04:01s, beating Puerto Rico’s Xavier Ruiz (2:02.38s) and Guatemala’s Sebastian Bermudez (2:02:65s).

The 200m Individual Medley is one of the most gruelling events of swimming that requires athletes to demonstrate peak stamina and technical mastery across all four disciplines: butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle. To cement his standing among the region’s elite, Noel executed all four legs with precision.

Female swimmer Sareefah Lewis, marked another historic outing, as she produced a landmark swim to capture the national women’s 50-meter freestyle record and became the first Guyanese woman to break the 27-second barrier, clocking a rapid 26.95s

Fellow Guyanese swimmer Ariel Rodrigues also competed in heat 1 of the 50m freestyle, finishing at the 5th place by clocking 28.63s, which placed her outside the qualifying spots.