23 July 12

By Ron Shillingford

The Cayman Islands team at the London Olympics  has reliable, experienced officials ensuring that all their needs are taken care of and they can just concentrate on preparing for the performance of their lives.

The opening ceremony is on Friday and swimming brothers Brett and Shaune Fraser are the first in action from Sunday, in the 200 metres freestyle.

Sprinters Cydonie Mothersill (women’s 200 metres), Ronald Forbes  (110m hurdles) and Kemar Hyman (100m) go for gold from 4 August.

Cayman Islands Olympics  Committee president is Donald McLean, general secretary is Carson Ebanks, chef de mission is Lori Powell and Bruce Blake is the attaché.

Blake said earlier this week: “Lori and I came ahead of everyone else to set everything up for the athletes. The track team is in training camp outside London and will come in on Wednesday.

“The swimmers are training in Dublin and will arrive  shortly. By the time they get here everything will be ready and all they have to do is concentrate on their events.

“The Olympics so far have been great. The organisation has been first-class and we’re totally enjoying the experience. We wish our athletes all the best and thank the Olympic Committee for all they’ve done. They’ve done a marvellous job getting us to this point. Lori has been great. She’s got everything down pat. We haven’t had any hiccups so when the athletes come they can just concentrate on going for gold.

“The vibe in the Olympic village is great. You start seeing the famous athletes walking around and it’s nice to be walking in the same path and just say hi. Everybody’s in their uniforms and trading pins. The excitement is really building up and everybody’s looking forward to it.

“It’s great to see people that you’ve met at other events and you get to meet new friends. London seems really excited about hosting the Games. Even in the mall, when you walk out people come up to you and say they’ve been to the Cayman Islands.

“I think this is actually really good for the Cayman Islands because it gets us out there. I think it is good for Cayman tourism. It’s also good for our athletes and inspires the next generation coming through back home to strive to hit the heights.

Ron Shillingford is the Cayman Islands Olympic Committee pool journalist who will be covering the London games for all local media.