Brett Fraser made it to the Semi-finals of the 200m Men’s Freestyle but just failed to qualify for the Finals. He finished sixth in his heat with a time of 1.47.01 only 0.91 seconds behind the winner Paul Biedermann. This was Brett’s personal best and the twelfth fastest time. He failed to qualify by just a fraction of a second 0.00.21.

His brother Shaune, failed to qualify, but although finishing eighth in his heat with a time of 1.48.53, there were 21 other swimmers in the other heats with slower times.

Brett breaks 200m record

By Ronald Shillingford

The Fraser brothers started well at the London Olympics with Brett breaking the Cayman Islands record in the 200 metres freestyle and Shaune posting a good time too.

Younger brother Brett, 22, went first in the heats at the Aquatic Centre, finishing fifth in 1 minute 47.74 seconds. Shaune, 24, was eighth in his heat in 1:48:53.

New pool king Ryan Lochte, who trains with the Frasers in Florida, won Brett’s heat in 1:46:45. Lochte beat the great Michael Phelps in the 400m individual medley to win gold on Saturday.

Brett’s time was fast enough to reach the semis when he swam 1:47:01 to finish sixth. It was not fast enough to reach Monday’s finals but was his personal best and a new national record and was 12^th fastest at the Games. Shaune’s time was 20^th best.

The Frasers now swim in the 100m heats on Tuesday. Then Brett goes in the 50m freestyle and Shaune races in the 100m butterfly.

Donald McLean, president of the Cayman Islands Olympic Committee, said: “I’m very pleased. They both swam well. Brett did a little better than Shaune but more importantly, he set a new national record and a personal best.

“Although Brett missed getting to the final he still did well. This was the first time a Caymanian has reached an Olympic semi-final. And it’s not finished yet. There’s plenty more swimming to come.”

Doctor Sook Yin is the swimming manager. She said: “Having spent five days in the Olympic village moving amongst all these great Olympians, watching them train, eat and conduct themselves, made me realize the sacrifices that they have to make to get to where they are.

“Qualifying and winning really boils down to a hundredth of a second, a point or a goal. These athletes work hard to get to where they are and they are there to win and our two swimmers are no different. Both the Fraser brothers are focused, disciplined, highly competitive and never settling for mediocrity.

“In the 200m free on Sunday, Shaune swam hard but didn’t make the semis but he is still in the top 20 in a field of 48 of the best in the world in this event.

“Brett’s swim was strong in both his prelim and semis. He was ranked 14th after the heats and swam his personal best but he improved his ranking to become 12th in the London Olympics. No mean feat when they both come from a population like ours.

“I am so proud of what they have achieved and yes they are disappointed they didn’t make the finals as they really wanted to make Cayman proud. Judging by the number of phone calls and emails from well-wishers from Cayman, I think they can be assured that our nation is already very proud of them.

“Both of them have refocused and started preparations for their next race on Tuesday. No doubt our whole nation will be rooting for them.”

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Both Fraser brothers will be competing in the 100 metres on Tuesday (31).

The following 9 photos are by Ron Shillingford:

The following 6 photos are from Bruce Blake: