From Cayman Islands Olympic Committee (CIOC)

The Cayman Islands Olympic Committee (CIOC) and Commonwealth Games Association (CGA) are delighted to officially announce the Cayman Islands National Team competing at the Samoa 2015 V Commonwealth Youth Games from September 7th – 11th. The Cayman Islands will be represented by 18 athletes across 4 sports – Athletics, Boxing, Rugby 7’s and Swimming. The athletes are as follows:

Athletics

Jamal Walton
Lacee Barnes
Daneliz Thomas

Boxing

Hopkin Ebanks

Rugby 7’s – Male

Piers Davies
Michael Matthews
Alexander Thompson
Jack Tonge
Liam Kay
Maurice Rockett-McLaughlin
Shakur Welcome
Cameron Bridgeman
Dylan Bostock
Alex Robertson
Aaron Hersant
Daniel Smith

Swimming

Catriona MacRae
Lauren Hew

Most of our young athletes will be competing at a Major Games for the first time. There are a few that have been to senior Major Games, like Lauren Hew who was a semi-finalist in the Glasgow Games in the 50m backstroke and 100m backstroke at the young age of 15. Lauren is coming to a Youth event with another year of experience under her belt and we are excited to see how she fairs against very strong competition.

Jamal Walton was supposed to compete in the 400m at the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing last year, but an unfortunate injury weeks before the Games saw Jamal sidelined. Jamal is well known for beating Usain Bolt’s 400m record with a time of 47.33 as a 15 year old! Jamal placed 4th at the IAAF World Junior Championships with a personal best of 45.99! The young track star is getting faster and will be eager to fight for a medal after having missed a great chance at the Youth Olympic Games a year ago.

The Rugby 7’s team will not only be representing the CI in the sport, but the entire Pan American Zone. The CI Men’s Rugby 7’s has earned the only spot from this zone and will be up against some of the best teams in the world!

Like the Commonwealth Games, all athletes stay in athletes’ village-style accommodation and events comply with International Federation technical rules and regulations, giving many competitors their first taste of an international multi-sport environment. Off the field of play, the Youth Games nurtures the next generation of global sporting citizens by focusing on friendship, integrity and cross-Commonwealth inter-cultural exchange – learning and living the Commonwealth Games Federation’s values of Humanity, Equality, Destiny.

The Cayman Islands team will depart from Cayman on September 1st and will return on September 14th. The whole team will attend the opening and closing ceremonies taking place on September 5th and 11th, respectfully.