By Treiston Joseph
There is no better feeling than opening the record books and seeing one’s name attached to a slice of history. Most athletes who have had that distinct honour of holding a record, whether it be school, college, national or even international, have that inner spirit that always hope their records never get broken.
But as the old saying goes, ‘records are meant to be broken’. Following our ‘Five facts that you probably didn’t know about Nationals’ article, we take a look at what we believe are the five toughest athletics records to break at ‘Nationals’.
Five: Stamina
If any record is the first to go on this list, it might just be this one. It’s going to be one hell of a run by the athlete who breaks Sheik Mohamed’s male 5000 metres record while competing for New Amsterdam (District 15).
Mohamed’s record time is 15:50.0s and has now stood for 25 years since he ran it in 1992 in Linden. It’s one of the toughest records in the book and is also the third longest standing athletics record to date.
Four: Massive throw
Who would have thought that the youngster with the bullet arm would turn out to be a Major in the Guyana Defence Force? This record is held by none other than Major Shen Fung, who once competed for North Georgetown (District 11).
Back in 1996, Fung released the Javelin that flew through the air to record a throw of 55.6 metres in the Boys Under-20 category. It is the biggest throw at the national championships to this day. This will continue to be one of the toughest records to topple at the championships.
Three: Big jump
The biggest jump in the National School Championships history is owned by a teacher. In 2006, Kevin Bonnett became the first and only man to jump over seven metres in the Long Jump event.
Competing for East Georgetown at the time, although he is originally from Linden and now competes for Upper Demerara/Kwakwani (District 10), Bonnett recorded a leap of 7.04 metres in the Teachers 21-30 category.
With the talent pool in the Long Jump arena lacking at a national level and athletes struggling to meet the seven-metre mark, it’s safe to say that Bonnett’s record will be safe for years to come.
Two: Higher level
This record was made in 1994 and belongs to a high jumper. No, it’s not the phenomenal Daniel Williams, who has two High Jump records at the National School Championships.
Rather the record belongs to North Georgetown’s Robert Bynoe, who made a leap of 2.03 metres to own the Under-20 record.
While we are it, here is a fun fact about Bynoe. A year after setting this massive mark at the National School Championships, he went onto own the Men’s High Jump national record, which stands at 2.17 metres.
With High Jump being one of the least developed field events in the nation, don’t expect to see this record falling in the near future.
One: ‘Iron Lady’
While many like to participate in sprints, I believe everyone knows how easily those records fall. This next record is held by an Olympian, by a Pan American silver medallist and a South American gold medallist.
If you are still wondering, this athlete also own the Women’s national 800 and 1500 metres records and is none other than Upper Demerara/Kwakwani’s (District 10) very own Marian Burnett. Burnett, contrary to her national records, owns the school championships Female 3000 metres record at 9:54.8s.
To put Burnett’s record into perspective, the Women’s national 3000m record stands at 10:11.31s and is held by Alika Morgan, who has a few records of her own at the School Championships.
Burnett’s record is also the second longest standing record in the book since 1991, so I guess we will not be seeing a new female 3000 metres school championships record anytime soon.
Honourable Mentions
Shanna Robertson: West Coast Berbice (District 5); Under-20: 1996; Female Discuss; 35.24 metres.
Chantoba Bright: Upper Demerara/Kwakwani (District 10); Under-16: 2015; Female Long Jump; 5.40 metres.
Cleveland Forde: North Georgetown (District 11); Open: 2002; Male 10km Road Race; 33m: 20s.
Kenisha Phillips: East Coast (District 4); Under-16: 2015; Female 100m; 12.0s.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: These records are listed in the official ‘Nationals’ booklet, which was issued in 2016.)
