Rae-Anne Serville is just 18, but has already set her sights on a Trinidad and Tobago senior record. The Memphis Pioneers athlete is targeting the 51.83 seconds women’s 400 metres standard established by Janeil Bellille in 2014, and hopes to achieve her goal while still a teenager.

Last June, Serville broke the national junior record, completing her lap of the Hasely Crawford Stadium track in 52.89 seconds for girls’ under-20 400 metres gold at the National Junior Championships.

“That day was kind of funny,” said Serville. “Right before that race, I was lying on a bench and looking up to the sky. I was so relaxed. I really wasn’t thinking about the race, and I just executed it perfectly. I didn’t realise it was that fast. I finished, and everybody is like really excited. I looked up and my mom is so excited. I was walking back, and the announcer says ‘that’s a new junior record!’.

“I didn’t even know what the junior record was,” the talented quarter-miler continued. “It didn’t dawn on me. Now, it has opened my eyes to hey, there are records to be broken. So I think it would be really cool if I break the senior record as a junior. I have one more year.”

Serville was speaking last Wednesday, during the second episode of Athlete Talks, the new online series featuring former national athletes Jamaal James and Zwede Hewitt, as well as current T&T track stars Jereem “The Dream” Richards and Jehue Gordon. James, Richards and Gordon co-hosted the second episode, while Serville and one-lap hurdler Sparkle McKnight were guests on the show.

Serville has been recruited by University of Southern California (USC), and is excited about the opportunity to train under the guidance of head coach Caryl Smith Gilbert. Serville said that her Memphis coaches, Dr Ian Hypolite and Antonia Burton “were really good guides” in the recruitment process.

“USC was probably the only school I actually reached out to. I e-mailed, wrote everything, this is me, I do this, these are my grades, this is my best race, all kind of videos, everything. And no response. That was devastating. Everybody was talking about how great the school is, but they didn’t reach out. So I took my five visits: Arkansas, Clemson, South Carolina, Harvard, and Texas.”

USC, however, eventually pursued Serville, and she made the obvious choice.

“I was on my way back from Harvard, in the airport by myself. My mom and my dad video-called me, and they were looking very excited. They said the head coach from USC called. I almost cried in the airport.”

Serville is confident the USC programme will serve her well.

“It would be really cool to run 49 and lower. I think I have the competition in USC to do it or to propel me along that path, so I’m looking forward to that.”

Serville bagged girls’ under-20 400m bronze at the 2019 Carifta Games, and was keen to improve on that performance at the 2020 edition, in Bermuda. Covid-19, however, forced the Games to be cancelled.

“Next year isn’t guaranteed,” said Serville. “I’ll be in the NCAA system, so attending Carifta will depend on if I’m free at that time and if I’m allowed to come. That’s up in the air, so yeah, it is kind of disappointing that I’ll miss out on that this year.”

The St Joseph’s Convent Port of Spain pupil had some words of advice for her fellow athletes.

“It’s the same thing my coach tells me. Carifta isn’t the be all and end all. There are a number of big names who have never made Carifta. And honestly, if it’s your first year and you missed it, you have a few other years. Keep doing what you were doing. You made the team once. You should be able to do it again,” Serville ended. “Just stay focused and train hard.”