Looking to shape Caymanian swimmers into the likes of Jordan Crooks and Shaune and Brett Fraser, the Department of Sports, in partnership with John Gray High School, put on a week-long free clinic with several dozen up-and-comers learning the basics to become successful in the sport.
The clinic, held 23-27 Oct., featured several of Cayman’s Olympians, including Geoffrey Butler, Jillian Crooks and Andrew Mackay, dropping by the Lions Aquatic Centre to share tips and their experience in the sport.
“The kids from the John Gray swim team, the student athletes, are new to the sport and we need to spend some time with the minor details – a lot of race-specific things that will benefit them when they are racing,” swim coach and organiser of the clinic, Ryan Mushin, told the Compass.
Mushin explained that through the week, the swimmers, ranging in age from 10 to 15, worked on various strokes and learned to turn off the wall. By the end of the clinic, they were executing improved dives, which, he noted, is very important.
Butler, who represented Cayman at the 2014 and 2015 World Championships, the 2016 Summer Olympics and the 2014 Commonwealth Games, among many other meets, told the Compass it is humbling to be giving back to kids that are starting just as he did.
“It all started here in this pool (Lions Aquatic Centre),” Butler said, after helping the youngsters with their backstroke start. “You have to start at the bottom, then you build up from there; you go to your first meet, and then it goes from CARIFTA onwards, and every single one of these kids are in the same position as all of us.”
“These are extremely important events,” Butler added. “Bringing the kids into the pool and having some great one-on-one time,” noting that sometimes it’s better to hear advice from those who took similar paths.
Mushin echoed Butler’s sentiments, adding that Crooks, particularly, relates to the young swimmers because they are close in age.
“Jillian called in to talk about her experience,” he said. “She is right around their age bracket, so it’s awesome, because they can relate, it’s one of their peers, so we are very grateful for that.
“Hopefully, they connect the dots, because people learn differently and we’re trying to give them all the opportunities to learn as quickly as possible.”
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