The Pirates 5k Sea Swim got a
welcome makeover this year and looks set to become a qualifier for the Olympics
next time.
World champ Alex Meyer cruised home
in 58 minutes and 29 seconds with two other world beaters, Emily Brunemann and
Eva Fabian coming second and third respectively on the course along Seven Mile
Beach on Saturday. It was the tightest finish between the girls, a few hundredths
of a second separating them with their times both 59.22. Brunemann is slightly
taller and she literally won by the extra length of her arm.
All three Americans have promised
to be here for the Flowers Sea Swim in June and are coming back for next year’s
Pirates 5k. Credit must go to Frank Flowers and daughter Dara Flowers-Burke for
all the hard work they’ve put in to elevate this event by injecting fabulous
prizes and cash incentives to get the world’s best here.
Cayman swimmers did well too. Simon
Butler was fourth, Seiji Groome fifth and Alex McCallum next. Danielle Boothe
was seventh and Coral Tomascik eighth. Frank Flowers came a credible 32nd and
Victor Thompson, as usual, swam a good race.
Meyer, 22, said: “Eva and Emily
were giving me a race for a while but I made a pretty strong move about half way
through. Mr. Flowers and his family have treated me very well again. I came
here in June for the Flowers Sea Swim and had a really good time.
“They invited me back for this and
I said yes in a heartbeat because it’s such a great place and I love being
here.” He is racing in Brazil next month and starts the World Cup circuit in
January.
Fabian, 17, said: “It was a really
fun race. The three of us were together until half way through but then Alex
pulled away from the girls. We wanted to beat him just for bragging rights but
it didn’t happen. It was a really close race between Emily and I and it was
fun.”
Fabian is competing in World Cup
races next year as well as finishing high school in New Hampshire. She had to
fly home straight after the swim and didn’t even have time to have breakfast at
Tiki Bar because she was playing violin in her orchestra the next day. Her mum
Claire said: “I’m very proud of Eva, for her swimming and violin playing and
overall she is a very nice child. She is very easy going and gives me no
problems. Mostly my husband travels with her, but she is very independent so
she is very organised and makes it easy for us because she knows what she has
to do.
“Cayman is beautiful. Much warmer
than New Hampshire. I went in the water and went for a run for about 40 minutes
and I just love the sights. It was a very nice experience. A great stay. I’m
looking forward to coming back for the Flowers Sea Swim.”
Brunemann, 24, said: “I got an
email from Mr Flowers inviting me down and I thought: ‘Why not?’ I had plenty
of time and wasn’t really doing anything. I honestly had no idea who won our
photo finish but I’m very happy that I did. Eva is a great competitor and
obviously she’s the world champion at this event. I think Cayman is gorgeous. I
got a little distracted during the race, looking at all the fish and stingrays.
It was awesome.”
Brunemann is a full time swimmer.
She graduated from the University of Michigan and is now based in Southern
California and is in training for more open water swims and may concentrate on
pool swims for the 2012 London Olympics.
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