Ten years of Cayman Airways Swim Meets made for a magic number Saturday morning, with many new faces and a terrific atmosphere, good swims and a lot of learning. Over 90 swimmers challenged themselves and each other, made worth while all the Stingray Swim Club volunteer’s hot mornings work.
Full house. The 2006 Cayman Airways Swim Meet drew a large field of competitors. Photo: Courtney Platt |
After a full pool warm-up, the National Song was led by a trio of lovely eight year olds, singing out across the water. Coach Alex Webb offered the prayer. Then the Meet Referee took over, clearing the stopwatches and pronouncing, ‘Take your Mark’ for the first of 77 times that morning. Five and six year olds Cameron Galloway and Marcos Betran stepped forward to valiantly produce 25 metres of butterfly, and the cheering began.
First up for the team that came across from the Brac, was eight year old Martha Rivers, showing good form and great promise. The five primary and three high school students, are all regular attendees of the Brac’s after-school program. Each swam five events, and earned multiple ‘Personal Bests’, 12 out of 15 for the high schoolers!
All were happy with their results and appreciative of Cayman Airways, the Sister Islands Sports Association and Sister Islands Administration for the opportunity to come test their progress.
The Brac swimmers are disadvantaged by their small, 15 X 7 metre pool. Meanwhile, they are training regularly, are keen, have talent and show promise. Coach Mike Hundt expressed hope, ‘Our swimmers look forward to and would benefit greatly from more meets, sea swims, coach training initiatives and interaction with Grand Cayman coaches and other swimmers in general. We hope to make that happen.’
All the Lions Aquatic Center coaches were glad to see the large turnout of first timers, in all age groups. Especially proud was Coach Paula Swaby of so many of her Learn-to-Swim tykes having the courage to enter.
Three year old Dylan Lewis, full of bravado, was eager to take his first competitive plunge, like his big brother and sister. He had successfully completed the distance before, but after 15 metres, he got overwhelmed as he realized all those people were cheering for him. He got a participation ribbon for his efforts.
Adding interest to the already high spirits was the division of Stingray Swim Club members into two teams, at the behest of National Coach Dominic Ross. The Blue team took the day, although both teams showed strengths throughout the 58 Events. As always, an emphasis on personal improvement made winners of all.
Many close finishes revealed swim rivalries that will benefit both:
Michael Matthews and Simon Butler, Isabella Rooney and Hannah Myrie, Amanda Shum and Lara Butler, Bethany Cleaver and Teagan Smith, Alex McCallum and Joshua Bain, Seiji Groome and Zack Myrie, Ariana Bain and Summer Flowers.
Three records were lowered: Danielle Boothe in the 50m Butterfly (10&Under Girls, club record) Amanda Shum in 50m breaststroke (11-12 Girls, both club and pool record).
Simon Butler in the 100m Individual Medley (7&8 yr old boys, club record)
Danielle proved to be lucky as well, she was the winner of a Cayman Airways ticket, in a random prize draw of entrants. The ever smiling Danielle’s first question was, ‘Can I use it to go on a swim trip?’
Too many one handed touch finishes earned too many DQ’s (disqualifications). DQ’s are an effective learning, and a necessary part of swim meets, but can sure hurt at the time. At least one high point award category winner was determined by a DQ.
Full results are available at www.caymanswimming.com
Next up on the competitive swim calendar is the CUC Sea Swim Saturday afternoon, followed by the Mike Lockwood Memorial Pirates Week International Meet, 3 days Nov 17-19, traditionally with competition from Jamaican teams.
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