All four clubs and the Special Olympic athletes competed at the Lions Pool for their annual sprint swim meet with a record attendance of 179 athletes.  Stingray Swim Club, Camana Bay Aquatic Club, Seven Mile Swimmers, Brac Barracudas and Special Olympians all raced head to head in this event geared towards younger swimmers.

Meet Director, Kathy Jackson, explained “This is a great swim meet for those competing for the first time, with age categories as young as six and under”.

Many races proved to be very tight, with one having all six swimmers finish within hundredths of a second of each other.  The 9-10 Girls and Boys proved the closest competitions with both top spots resulting in a tie for the High Point Awards.

High Point Winners for the age categories:

6&U Girls:   Leila Coak – 22 points

6&U Boys:  Taygan McFarlane, Brac Barracudas – 20 points

7-8 Girls:    Sierrah Broadbelt, SMS – 28 points

7-8 Boys:    Ben Coak, SMS – 28 points

9-10 Girls:   Lila Higgo, CBAC / Jillian Crooks, CBAC, tie – 18 points

9-10 Boys:  Amari Ried, SMS / Connor MacDonald, CBAC, tie – 18 points

11-12 Girls: Kyra Rabess, SSC – 21 points

11-12 Boys: Finn Bishop, CBAC – 22 points

13-14 Girls: Sabine Ellison, CBAC – 25 points

13-14 Boys: Corey Frederick-Westerborg, SSC – 30 points

15&O Girls: Sarah Jackson, SSC – 30 points

15&O Boys: Alex McCallum, SSC – 23 points

The boys 13-14 category was dominated by Corey Frederick-Westerborg and Sarah Jackson did the same in the 15 and Over races, both scoring the 30 maximum points for the meet in their respective age groups.

Spectators had standing room only, as the bleachers were packed on both sides of the Lions pool.    As stated by CIASA President, Michael Lockwood, “The success of swim meets like this years Lions Sprint Meet clearly demonstrate that our facilities are at capacity and we need to push on with plans for our 50 meter pool for this next generation of athletes.”

The next swim meet on the calendar at the Lions pool, is the Landon Von Kanel Memorial Swim Meet, 1-4 June 2017.

Young swimmers who are interested in swimming competitively in Cayman and overseas, should contact any of the local clubs for more information.  Swim meets are held locally throughout the year and a calendar of events can be found on the CIASA.ky website.