Some inspirational Cayman athletes attended the 2024 Special Olympics Caribbean Regional Beach Games, where they showed passion and determination en route to earning medals in two separate sports.
The games, held on 8-10 Nov. at Maracas Beach in Trinidad and Black Rock in Tobago, featured more than 130 competitors from across the Caribbean participating in six sports. The Cayman delegation of four athletes competed in two – beach bocce and open water swimming.
Results
Bocce
Shanike Ebanks: Silver (individual) and bronze (doubles)
Anechell Newman: Silver (individual) and bronze (doubles)Open Water
Rasheed Lawrence: Bronze (1500 metres)
Matthew Javier: Silver (750 metres)
“It was quite different for most of the athletes as playing on sand is not commonplace, but Special Olympics athletes are good at adapting,” Nicole Thompson, Cayman’s bocce coach, told the Compass.
Adapt is exactly what Shanike Ebanks and Anechell Newman did in the bocce competition. Ebanks and Newman both won silver medals in their individual division, before teaming up to claim bronze in the doubles.
“So, the games were still quite competitive and a positive enjoyable experience for all who participated,” Thompson added.
The medals kept coming for Cayman, this time in open water.
First, Rasheed Lawrence took bronze in the men’s division 1A, 1500 metres, and then teammate Matthew Javier hit the waters for the 750 metres, where he took silver in the men’s division 2.
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