The Pirates Week Mike Lockwood Memorial Swim Meet took place November 10th — 13th at the Lions Aquatic Centre; hosted by Stingray Swim Club (SSC) and attended by visiting swimmers from local clubs Camana Bay Aquatic Club (CBAC), Seven Mile Swimmers (SMS), Brac Barracudas (Brac) and Special Olympics of the Cayman Islands (SOCI).

Mr Michael Lockwood, Mike Lockwood’s son, former Stingray member and current President of CIASA and a masters swimmer was on deck at the start of the meet. Delivering brief opening comments, Michael reflected on his father’s firm belief that all children should learn how to swim and the pride he would get from seeing so many young swimmers taking part in this meet.

An extra component of the meet this year was the addition of a food collection which saw Stingray invite all swimmers taking part to bring donations of dry foods for the Lions Food Pantry. The Lions Aquatic Centre has been the home of Stingray Swim Club since its inception 20 years ago, and as Mike Lockwood was also a Lion the club saw this initiative as a win-win.

“It was an excellent weekend of fun and good strong competition,” said Stingray Head Coach David Pursley. “The meet was a lot of fun and it was great to have our youngest swimmers on the blocks again — with a highlight of the four days coming on the Friday night when our 6&U girls Medley Relay team swam their hearts out. Cheered on by all the older swimmers, and by all the spectators in the stands the young swimmers — including Stingray’s Kassandra Adapa, Casey Coles, Cassidy Coles and Abriann Cooper were all beaming as they finished their leg to high fives and cheers from Stingray’s senior girls. The close relays and over all team scores show the tremendous growth in the depth of competition here on island across all teams.”

In the overall points standings, Stingray Swim Club placed 1st with 867 points; Camana Bay Aquatic Club, 2nd with 840; Seven Mile Swimmers 3rd with 310 points; Brac Barracudas 4th with 24 and Special Olympics Cayman Islands 5th with 8 points.

High Points Winners Girls U6 — Casey Coles (SSC); Girls 7-8 Libby Lindley (SMS); Girls 9-10 Harper Barrowman (SMS); Girls 11-12 Avery Lambert (CBAC); Girls 13-14 Ria Plunkett (SSC) and Girls 15&Over Samantha Bailey (SSC).

Boys U6 Rylan Pearson (Unattached); Boys 7-8 Phin Ellison (CBAC); Boys 9-10 Harry Bishop (CBAC); Boys 11-12 Finn Bishop (CBAC); Boys 13-14 Zachary Moore (SSC) and Boys 15&Over Rory Barrett (CBAC).

“Meets such as this one are not possible without many, many volunteer hours — from certified officials who ensure meet runs according to FINA regulations to timers, to concession stand sales people, photographers and more,” said Kathy Jackson, Meet Director. “Thank you to all our volunteers who come together meet after meet, putting in hours and hours of their time and making swimming, in my opinion, one of the best run competitive sports in Cayman.”