Even as he prepares to represent Saint Lucia at the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Championships in St Vincent and the Grenadines next month, Antoine Destang is still collecting accolades from his high school career. Saint Lucia’s most outstanding young swimmer is into his first year as a freshman student-athlete at the University of Michigan.
Last weekend, however, Destang reaped the rewards of a brilliant prep career at The Bolles School, as he was officially named Florida Swimmer of the Year for his age group. This prestigious award was presented at the 2025 Florida Swimming Annual Awards Banquet, alongside senior swimmer of the year for the USA’s Katy Ledecky, the most decorated female swimmer in history, with a total of 14 Olympic medals, including nine golds.
During his senior year at Bolles, where he was joined by Saint Lucia teammate Tristan Dorville, Destang turned in multiple top ten national performances for his age group, 15-17, over the 2024-2025 season (September 1, 2024-August 31, 2025). Competing in short course yards (SCY) he has consistently shown his ability to step up in big moments.
Earlier this year, at the CARIFTA Aquatics Championships in Trinidad and Tobago, Destang made five finals in all. He earned bronze in his age group freestyle, in a personal best, and Saint Lucian 15-17 and Eastern Caribbean junior best of 51.38. He also took a silver medal in the 100m butterfly at the National Aquatic Centre in Couva over the Easter weekend. His swim of 54.78 was the third fastest in the history of CARIFTA.
Competing for the Bolles Sharks in the first quarter of 2025, Destang had five medals and eight top ten finishes. At the Florida Senior Championship in March, he took four and a half seconds off his personal best for the 100-yard backstroke, earning a silver medal. In the TYR Pro Swim Series earlier that same month, he won the 100m freestyle and was third in the 50m butterfly. And at the Florida BSS February Classic, he grabbed the top spot in the 100-yard backstroke, whilst finishing third in the 200-yard freestyle.
He would go on to compete at the French Elite Championships, in the 100m freestyle, 100m backstroke, and 50m butterfly. Over the summer, Destang competed at the 22nd World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, placing in the top 60 for the 100m freestyle and butterfly against grown men. He’s already achieved his first top ten finish for the Wolverines in the fall season, sixth in the 100-yard butterfly at Notre Dame on October 10.
Destang is part of a strong freshman class for Michigan, with the incoming swimmers rated as one of the top 20 groups in the USA. Expectations are high for the Gros Islet native in the 100m butterfly, specifically. He comes to Ann Arbor with a personal best of 47.16 in that event, but he is also a solid 200 flyer, holding a personal best of 1:47.86. His versatility may see him competing more in the 100m freestyle, however.
The OECS Championships are just days away, November 7-9 at the Shrewsbury Aquatic Centre in Ratho Mill, St Vincent and the Grenadines. Destang missed out on last year’s meet, but he was selected for Saint Lucia in 2023, and he will hope to help the many-time former champions improve on their fourth-place finish from the year he was absent.
Following a stellar 2023 and 2024, in which he was a multiple CARIFTA champion, some in the swimming community felt that Destang had been snubbed for Saint Lucia’s Junior Sportsman of the Year award. His 2025 campaign may not have been rewarded with as many medals as he earned over the last two years in regional competition, but Destang has repeatedly shown that he is capable of becoming a world-class swimmer at his best.
