Cayman Islands win 15 CARIFTA swimming medals
The Cayman Islands CARIFTA Swimming Championships team returned home last Thursday (9) after winning 15 medals at the region’s top junior meeting.
Parents and supporters welcomed the 21 swimmers at the Owen Roberts International Airport. The swimmers themselves say they consider the meet a success after finishing seventh in the team standings and having one swimmer in particular — Alison Jackson — finish as the meet’s fourth-highest individual point earner after taking eight medals.
“I think we did a great job this year,” said swimmer Eddie Weber, who finished the meet with one gold and one silver medal. “We really pulled ahead and everyone really knows that Cayman is a really moving and dominant force in swimming now. And I think we got about 15 medals this year and I think we just really smoked the competition.”
Jackson, who ended the meet as Cayman’s most decorated swimmer, attributes the success to attention to detail.
“Well when we had our National practices, we did a lot of work on our dives and stuff so we would get better, quick reactions and the little details,” she said, “So that when we’re actually racing we get the little things right. And the little things matter a lot.”
Among those at the airport was Sports Minister Hon. Osbourne Bodden, who weighed in on both of Cayman’s CARIFTA teams.
“Fantastic performance,” Bodden said of the swimmers. “Last year we had six medals. We’re up to 15. I hope next year we can say the same for track. Track had a lot of narrow escapes, as it were, for medals.”
Cayman’s track and field team sent 20 athletes to the games but garnered just one medal.
