Britany Van Lange
Olympian and Guyana Defense Force Officer Cadet, Britany Van Lange, was recently awarded with a Certificate of Appointment to the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York. Britany received her appointment from U.S. Embassy Georgetown’s Senior Defense Official, LCDR Robert Novotny in a small ceremony held on Monday, April 20th at Base Camp Stephenson, Timehri, East Bank Demerara. She will join her older brother Errol, who is currently enrolled at West Point in the Class of 2016.
Born on November 17, 1996, Britany has excelled in swimming, music and academically. A Science major, she attended Bishops High School until 2013 when she earned all eleven subjects at the CXC examinations. She is currently a Senior at Queens College where she has completed Unit 1 CAPE, again successfully earning all five subjects.
Britany has quite an impressive swimming record. In 2010, she was one of two swimmer who represented Guyana at the 10th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) in Dubai. At the 2011 School Swimming Championship, Britany won the 50 metre butterfly and the 50 and 100 metre free style races. Her most outstanding achievements came in 2012 when she earned 12 gold medals and a bronze, breaking 3 Goodwill records at the Carifta Swimming Championships in the Bahamas. That same year, at age 15 and the younest member on the Guyana Team, Britany represented Guyana at the 2012 London Olympics. She swam to fourth place out of lane six in heat two to register a time of 1:01.62 seconds. Unfortunately, she did make it to the semifinals.