Jamaican South Florida-based swimmer Alia Atkinson has long been making waves on the international swimming circuit with record-breaking wins. But one other SoFlo-based yardie is making a name for himself in the sport – 14-year-old breakout sports star, Jesse Marsh.
Marsh ended 2015 on a high note, breaking the national 13-14 age-group record in the 100-meter butterfly at the recent SPEEDO Winter Juniors in Atlanta, clocking 58.49 seconds. This made Marsh the first 13-14 Jamaican swimmer to crack the 59-second barrier. Returning to Jamaica for Christmas, Marsh also managed to break some more national records at the Amateur Swimming Association of Jamaica’s Christmas Open Championships. He made a flashy time of 59.09-seconds in the boys’ 13-and-over 100-metre butterfly event. He also broke 6-year-old record, clocking 2:13:33 minutes in the Boy’s 13-and-over 200 meters butterfly.
The former Campion college student moved to South Florida this year to continue training at the St. Andrews swimming program in Boca Raton. As for 2016, Marsh has high expectations for himself, setting some “goals with my coaches in Florida for next year and we are already working towards them. My aim is to clock 57 seconds or somewhere thereabouts in the 100-metre butterfly and I want to go under 2:10 minutes in the 200 butterfly,” he added.
