“Hundreds exposed to Olympians Tancock, McClatchey and Dwyer through clinics, sea swims and brunch.”

CIASA, Grand Cayman, 21 January 2013: Splash, Dash and Dine 2013 is being heralded as a success by organizers, the Cayman Islands Amateurs Swimming Association (CIASA). Olympic swimmers Liam Tancock (Great Britain), Caitlin McClatchey (Great Britain) and Conor Dwyer (USA) were in Grand Cayman, January 10-13th putting on clinics, leading sea swims and taking part in a fund raising brunch.

CIASA is a volunteer, not for profit association dedicated to furthering the interests of all aquatic sports in the Cayman Islands. Funds raised are used for further educational and technical training of officials, coaches and senior/elite swimmers; for the Junior Cayman Islands CARIFTA Swimming Team; for the popular Sea Swim Series and for the development of the sport of swimming throughout the Cayman Islands.

The Splash: the clinics were capped to 30 swimmers per session to ensure that those participating had a quality experience where they were able to listen and learn. The 12& Over swimmers attended on Thursday 10th and were hosted at the Camana Bay Aquatic Club (CBAC) pool; while the Under 12 swimmers attended on Friday 11th at the Lions Aquatic Center (LAC). At each session the Olympians gave attendees a motivational speech followed by a Q&A and opportunity to see, touch and hold the Olympians medals. Then they all got in to the pool and took part in skills sessions. One of the stand out moments was watching Liam Tancock, 50m World Record Holder, demonstrate his backstroke start and then seeing Cayman’s young swimmers immediately work on changing their own starts.

The Dash: the Care Pharmacy sea swims took place just off world famous Seven Mile Beach and saw Liam Tancock taking part in his first ever open water swim. Spoiled by the experience he admitted he might not do another one until he is back in Cayman! To encourage swimmers of all ages and abilities to take part in the sea swims, there were two distances, a 200m and a 400m swim. Tancock won the 200m distance in a time of 02:15; while Dwyer – having heard of local swimmer Alex McCallum’s win over Olympic Gold Medal 10K winner Oussama Mellouli in the Pirates Week 5K – went out fast over the first 50m and then held his lead to the Finish Line, crossing in a time of 04:20. McCallum came in second and Caitlin McClatchey crossed the line in third. Veteran sea swim swimmer HE Duncan Taylor also swam and was delighted to be a part of this historic sea swim.