With the 2021 Junior Pan American Games about to start, the Cayman Islands swim squad prepares to make history by competing for the first time in aquatic events at the regional sports showcase.
The pool events will take place at the Aquatics Centre in Cali, Colombia, with the games running from 25 Nov.-5 Dec. The Pan American Sports Organization will include swimming, diving, and artistic (synchronized) swimming in the 2021 junior games for the first time.
Cayman’s team of 14 athletes, from six different sports. Six athletes of the Caymanian squad will take part in pool events.
Alexandria Owen and Abbie Carnahan will take part in the artistic competition at the games for the first time.
Cayman’s youngest Olympian, Jillian Crooks, will be joined by her older brother Jordan Crooks, along with Kyra Rabess and Raya Embury-Brown in swimming.
Stingray Swim Club head coach David Pursley has been named the national swim coach for the 2021 junior games. He said he has no expectations about results but trusted that his team will perform to the best of their ability.
“All I can ask for is their best effort,” Pursley told the Cayman Compass. “As far as expectations are concerned, we really don’t have any clue what to expect…It’s the first-ever Junior Pan American Games for swimming, so there’s no previous years [to compare with].”
Rabess, 17, and Embury-Brown, 17, currently train with Stingray. The teammates share similar views on the upcoming competitions, with both pleased to represent Cayman.
“It definitely feels good to travel again, especially for a meet like this… I think it’s going to be a different atmosphere,” Embury-Brown told the Compass.
Travelling has been difficult for many due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused major junior meets like the CARIFTA Games to be cancelled for two straight years. Rabess said she is eager to end her competitive hiatus.
“I haven’t been able to really go anywhere and having the opportunity to go to junior PanAms is actually amazing because this is the biggest meet I get to go [to] and represent my country,” she said.
Jillian, 15, currently trains and competes out of Homer High School in Alaska, while her brother Jordan, 19, is a freshman at the University of Tennessee. Pursley said he is looking forward to reconnecting with the sister and brother ahead of the meet.
“I’ve been following Jordan’s progress, I’ll make sure I get in touch with his coach before we leave, because I know his coach from when we used to coach against each other when I was with the University of Alabama,” he said, adding that Jillian “has such a positive attitude” and he’s looking forward to coaching them.
Artistic swimmers Carnahan and Owen have been preparing as a duo for the past 10 weeks under coach Romina Giraldo. Carnahan said she is pleased to be a part of the first artistic team to represent Cayman at an international meet.
“This is the first meet of this scale, that the both of us are going to so that, in itself, is really big,” she said. “We want to represent the island and our team and the sport really well. It’s going to open so many other doors for future swimmers.”
Giraldo added that the junior games will pose a challenge for her swimmers because they are still improving. She noted that she is “not going to fight for the finals,” instead the goal is for “them to set a personal best mark”.
The team is expected to travel to Colombia on Tuesday, 23 Nov.
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