Frasers welcomed home in style

Swimming brothers Shaune and Brett Fraser got the reception they fully deserved as Minister of Sports Mark Scotland and a host of dignitaries welcomed them at the Owen Roberts International Airport on Wednesday. 

The Frasers are here to celebrate Thanksgiving and give clinics to kids from the Stingray and Camana Bay swim clubs. This is a crucial time for the brothers who are preparing for the London Olympics next year.  

They have qualified for the 100m and 200 metres freestyle at the London Olympics and Brett will also compete in the 50m ‘B’ butterfly and Shaune in the 100m ‘B’ fly there.  

The pair made international headlines last month after winning three medals between them at the Pan Am Games in Mexico, a first for the Cayman Islands. Brett won the 200m freestyle with Shaune taking a silver medal in the same race. Shaune had earlier won a bronze in the 100m butterfly. It was a historic achievement considering how small the Cayman Islands is compared to other nations.  

Shaune, 23, has been a Cayman Islands elite athlete last year, and Brett, 22, became an elite athlete this year. Shaune said: “It’s great to be home. I haven’t been here for six months and even though it’s only for a short time, it’s great to be back. It’s always great to be home and back amongst my family.  

“Our success at the Pan Ams was a dream come true. We knew we could do well and had been training pretty hard and had a pretty successful summer before the Games so we knew results were coming our way. We were just happy to execute them out there.” 

As for his rivalry with Brett, Shaune said: “It’s always a friendly competition outside of the pool but in the pool we always try to push ourselves as hard as we can. I’m happy for him and I know he was happy for me. It was a pretty special moment being on the podium and seeing the Cayman Islands flag raised.  

“I don’t know if any brothers have been one and two at the Pan Am Games but we knew that we could do it when we went there.” 

For the rest of the year they will be based back in Florida for a couple more grand prix meets. They will be competing in Atlanta next week at the US nationals. Then it’s Christmas training, so pigging out and getting out of shape is out of the question. Then it is totally focused until the London Games start in July.  

Brett said: “At the Pan Ams we didn’t discuss who was going to come first or second but we did think we could do something special. Regardless of the outcome I’m really proud of my brother and I’m really proud to share all those moments with him. 

“It’s really great to be here because I don’t really get to see much of the family anymore. Always coming home is emotional and special and I’m always happy to be here.  

“For the Olympics, we’re just going to go back and train as hard as we did this year, keep our thoughts positive, our goals high and I definitely think there is a chance for a medal for each of us if we keep those things in perspective.”