This year’s Flowers Sea Swim was special in many ways, but to 10–year-old Alexandra Burke, it marks the first time she beat her grandfather, founder Frank Flowers Sr., in the mile-long race.
“She might be the fastest Flowers in the Flowers Sea Swim now,” said her mother and event coordinator Dara Flowers Burke as they gathered on the sand just past the inflatable finish line off Seven Mile Beach.
“We’re very proud of her,” she added.
Many members of the Flowers family turned out for this year’s fundraiser race, which helps support the Swim Free programme.
Alexandra finished in 203rd place, nearing the top third among 590 ranked competitors of all ages.
To fellow young swimmers, Alexandra had some advice.
“Just don’t stop,” she said. “Look for the buoys, and when the buoy passes, you already know you’re halfway there.”
Dara said her niece flew in all the way from Los Angeles, California, to participate in the swim. Her eight-year-old son also joined the team as one of the 200 volunteers helping make the day go off without a hitch.
“We’ve really made it a family effort this year,” Dara said.
Results available
Organisers of the race recently released the final timed results for participants, both overall and divided by male and female divisions.
Those results are available online at www.flowersseaswim.com/results/.
Related Videos
Congratulations to Frankie and all his family for all the time, money and effort they have put into the Annual Mile swim, over decades. This is a major contributor to the Cayman Islands ranking second amongst the Caribbean nations, in the annual Carifta Swimming Championships.