The Caledonian Swim Meet, hosted by the Stingray Swim Club of Grand Cayman at the Lions Swimming Pool took place three days, 15-17 June.
With 128 swimmers participating, 14 were international visitors from Team Santa Monica, coached by former Cayman Islands Coach, Dave Kelsheimer with the rest representing the hosts, the Stingray Swim Club, the newly formed Camana Bay Aquatics Club or were unattached to a club.
The meet provided swimmers with the opportunity to test themselves in the longer distance events which are not part of the faster sprint meets and as it was the same week as the annual Flowers Sea Swim it also allowed competitors to take part in the mile race.
Action started on Wednesday, with 400 metre events and then moved to Friday which saw the Under-6 events and a number of other events scheduled as well.
The evening was moving along at a great pace when lightning forced officials to halt the meet at around 8:30pm. “The rain and the wind were not factors” said meet director Richard Moody. “But lightning means it is no longer safe and so we had to call the meet.”
Swimming resumed on Sunday with a great number of fathers celebrating Father’s Day either in the stands cheering on their children or volunteering with meet duties.
Despite having additional events added to the day’s swimming the meet moved along smoothly and quickly under the firm eye of meet referee Olive Balderamos and referee of the Sunday session, Tom McCallum and saw every competitor turning in 100 per cent effort.
One race of particular interest was an Under-12 girls’ heat which saw two sets of sisters on the blocks: Sarah and Alison Jackson and Ella and Ria Plunkett.
Although they usually swim in three different age groups (U8s, U10s and U12s) the open U12 event saw them lining up against each other and heard many cheers as friends and parents alike struggled to figure out who to cheer for.
On hand at the start of Friday’s session, Jacqui Terry of Caledonian said: “It was great to see the outpouring of support for the swimmers and participation from the spectators.
“Caledonian supports this event because swimming is not only a great sport, but also a critical life skill and we applaud the outstanding efforts of all swimmers who achieved notable success, personal bests and individual triumphs at this weekend’s swim meet.
“The older swimmers all make it look so easy, but when you see a five year old competing in a 25m butterfly race it puts it all in perspective.”
Meet results were encouraging for coaches and swimmers alike, with 78 Swimmers achieving 228 personal bests during the meet. “Swimming is a great sport for measuring personal achievement,” said Moody. “As swimmers are always against the timer and are ultimately after internationally accepted times which can qualify them for overseas meets.
“It is natural for them to want to win, that is competition, but they are also always pushing themselves to achieve new PBs and to self improve.”
At the conclusion of the meet on Sunday, high points trophies for each age group were presented. The introduction of the Camana Bay Aquatics Club also meant that, for the first time, Caledonian sponsored a meet cup awarded to the participating club with the highest points and this year it was won by the Stingray Swim Club with 1,387 points.
Heading into the summer will see Stingray Swim Club action slow down on the domestic front and move to the international scene with Stingray swimmers representing the Cayman Islands in Athens at the Special Olympics World Games, Island Games in the Isle of Wight and Florida, Cayman Islands Amateur Swimming Association vent.
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