Cayman steps up to host artistic CARIFTA championships

For the first time in CARIFTA history, the Cayman Islands will host the synchronised swimming segment of the event this March.

But while Cayman will be responsible for this year’s synchro championships, they won’t be held locally due to the islands lacking facilities to accommodate the event.

Because of this, Alissa Moberg, head coach of the Cayman synchro programme and chairman of the CARIFTA artistic swimming committee, opted to outsource a venue for the mega junior competition.

Moberg confirmed with the Compass that, after lengthy discussions, Coral Springs Aquacades in Florida has agreed to let CARIFTA utilise its venue.

The Ministry of Sports, in a press release issued on 29 Jan., stated that it had acquired the tanks of a 50-metre pool and 25-metre pool, which initially will be used for the US Olympic trials in Indiana this summer before being transported to Grand Cayman and installed in the new Cayman Islands Aquatic Centre.

“There’s a lot of people excited to see this event happen in Florida but I know when we have the facility and the athlete village ready in Cayman, we will be turning events away,” Moberg said.

She noted that Bahamas was slated as the original host but pulled out. Martinique was the back-up plan, but it too was unable to host the event, leaving Cayman as the final option.

“It is an incredible privilege that we are in a position to step up,” Mobley said. “We had to step forward and that is exactly what we are doing. We are all very excited, full of anticipation and a little bit of anxiety to make sure that we are doing this the right way and making everything as big as it can be, for these athletes.”

This opportunity comes almost a year after Moberg led Cayman artistic swimmers to a milestone achievement during the 2023 CARIFTA championships, where they captured the first high point honour in history for Cayman in any sporting discipline of those Games.

Now the 345 synchro programme is on the verge of making more history. But while Cayman will go down on paper as the host, Moberg admitted that pulling off an event of that stature would not be possible without the help of regional federations.

“This is a collaborative effort for these athletes. If we don’t all work together in this region, then we can’t make big things happen. We’ve been in contact with all the federations for the past several months,” she said, adding that several countries, including last year’s host, Curaçao, have given advice based on lessons they have learnt.

Beneficial choices

There are specific perks to having an event in the US, Moberg said, explaining that while traditionally participants stay at an athletes’ hotel, the federations will not be subject to those practices.

“We are trying to allow the federations to make choices that are more beneficial to them and might be more accessible for their budget,” she said, noting that if countries want to rent an Airbnb, rather than stay at a hotel, they can do that.

“In years past, the games have not been set up to make that feasible, so they are some unique things that we are doing,” she said.

In addition, other federations outside of CARIFTA countries will be able to take part, and so the official name of the event will be the 2024 CARIFTA Artistic Swimming Championships and Invitational.

“Back in 2012, Aruba put forward a proposal to the CARIFTA Congress saying ‘Can we make this an open invitational, where we invite other clubs and other countries to enter?’ … Thankfully, that was passed at the time, but there just hasn’t been a major marketing push for the meet.”

Now, however, a marketing campaign is in full swing, with countries like Ecuador, Canada and the US already committing to taking part in the invitational.

“Our goal is to expose the swimmers to a [wide range of athletes] and just also to make this event as exciting and memorable as possible. I’m really just trying to create something special and I think that’s a big reason why we are all feeling the nerves.”

Moberg ended by saying they are still looking for sponsorships, noting that for anybody who wants to be a part of the event, there are many ways to get involved and help.