On Seven Mile Beach on Saturday were the 635 swimmers who took part in the Flowers Sea Swim and the hundreds who showed up to support them, including movie star Vin Diesel who proved to be a cheerleader for his daughter and for the event itself.
The action star told an applauding crowd during the awards ceremony for the 31st annual Flower Sea Swim that his eldest child, Hania ‘Similce’ Sinclair Diesel, “came to me three years ago and said, ‘Daddy, I want to compete in the sea swim,’ and today she did that mile in 30 minutes.”
The swim featured multiple Olympians and celebrities, as well as recreational swimmers and competitive open-water athletes, as well as the entire Flowers family.
“We think that this is such an incredible event, and we are honoured to be a part of it; honoured to share it around the world because no one should be afraid to swim,” Diesel said.
In the one-mile race along Seven Mile Beach, between the Westin and Coral Beach, Similce finished ahead of 276 participants, according to the official results.
Proceeds raised from the event will benefit the Swim Free programme, through which a mobile pool will be transported to Cayman’s schools to teach children to swim.
Someone who has no issue swimming is American Olympian Alexander Meyer, who crossed the line first with a time of 18:50.83.
“I came down here hoping to win,” Meyer told the Compass. “Obviously, some other great swimmers, like the Frasers (Shaune and Brett) were here and there were a few guys really close behind me. There is no shame in not winning this event, but of course, I wanted to win. I can’t help it – it’s a part of my nature.”
Five seconds behind Meyer was Cayman’s Dominic Hilton in 18:55.92 and Will Sellars in 18:58.80, who took second and third overall, respectively.
Harper Barrowman, Cayman’s 2022 Commonwealth Games finalist, won first female for the second consecutive year. She was also fifth overall, clocking in at 20:05.24 behind Caymanian star Shaune Fraser.
Hanging with the best
Barrowman, Hilton and Sellars are all from the Seven Mile Swimmers team. Following the race on Saturday, head coach Darren Mew told the Compass that he was pleased to see three of his athletes make the top five against elite competition.
“They are training really hard,” Mew said. “We had a huge session last night and I had them training three hours this morning but nothing too hard. My boys came in second and third behind a US Olympian.
“We had first and second girl as well… For those girls to come in, racing the boys, and they love racing the boys; they got a huge kick from beating the boys and they are both incredible swimmers.”
While the competition level is high once the starting horn blows, like the Walkers Cayman Islands Marathon, the Flowers Sea Swim over the years has brought forth many stories, including people swimming to pay tribute to loved ones, and for others, the race is about overcoming, inspiring and supporting.
Last year, Martyn Roper, the former Cayman Islands governor, completed the race in what was his first-time swimming one mile in open water. During that same event, Heather Harvey (née Roffey) swam while eight months pregnant.
Mew said this year was no different when it came to inspiring and supporting one another, noting that many of the Olympians who came for the event gave back to the up-and-comers.
“They are incredible role models to the kids,” Mew said. “They all take time out to sit and talk, answer questions. We had [US Olympic gold medalist] Courtney Hart come along to the Lions Pool and helped coach some of the kids, and that is incredibly motivating for them.”
Mew added that the event, in its 31st year, continues to be a staple in the year and noted, with the COVID-19 pandemic seemingly behind us, he expects the number of participants to climb going forward.
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