Jamaica’s swimmers kicked off their campaign at the Pan Am Aquatics Championships with a pair of podium finishes and a national record-breaking performance that set the tone for the rest of the meet in Medellín, Colombia.

Collin McKenzie was the country's standout performer on Tuesday's opening day, as he rewrote the national record books with a dazzling swim in the men's 19-22 100-metre breaststroke final. He clocked 1:02.23 to claim the silver medal behind Puerto Rico’s Xavier Flores (1:01.18), who took gold, while Colombia’s Juan Montoya (1:02.31) completed the podium with bronze.

McKenzie’s performance also earned him the coveted ‘A’ qualifying standard for the Junior Pan American Games, set for Paraguay this summer.

Adding to Jamaica’s medal tally was Kia Alert, who battled to a well-earned bronze medal in the women’s 13-15 100m breaststroke final, as she touched the wall in 1:17.85. The gold was claimed by host country swimmer Isabella Garcia (1:14.56), with Elisa Acosta (1:17.61) of Mexico in second.

Elsewhere in the pool, Jamaica also celebrated valuable finals appearances from other swimmers. Lia Forester secured a fifth-place finish in the women’s 19-22 200m backstroke, where she clocked 2:30.58. The race was dominated by Ecuador’s Maria Ruiz, who won in 2:19.03, ahead of Elizabeth Garrido (2:21.00) of the Dominican Republic and Cuba’s Laurent Caraballo (2:22.30).

In the men’s backstroke events, Josh Wilkinson finished eighth in the 16–18 200m category with a time of 2:26.80, while Rhys Hunter was seventh in the 13–15 age group, as he registered 2:28.75. The latter race was fiercely contested, as Jayden Wen Hu Xu of St. Lucia narrowly missed the podium at fourth in 2:26.37.