(CNS): Shaune Fraser broke the Cayman national record, which he had only recently set himself, in his third and final event of the Beijing Olympics today (Thursday), finishing his 100-metre Butterfly heat in 54.08 seconds. His overall ranking was 51 of 65 swimmers.

Taking the top five spots in the event was Milorad Cavic of Serbia who set a new Olympic record at 50.76, followed by Michael Phelps of US, Andril Serdinov of Ukraine, Jason Dunford of Kenya and Peter Mankoc of Slovenia. The final for this event is on Saturday.

"I thought it was a good swim," Cayman swimming coach Dominic Ross told Cayman Islands Olympic Committee Journalist Shurna Robbins. "He maybe missed the finish a little bit, his time could have been a little better. But this is an event that he is just getting started with, so certainly there’s a lot more in the tank in that event and I’m looking forward to the future."

Fraser said he was relieved that his swims were over, but he was already looking ahead. “I know my future is bright and I’m just beginning in this sport. So I’ll just keep on improving and take it year by year and see where that takes me by the next Olympics.” He added, "Next time around things will be a lot different…I’ll be much more experienced. I’ll be older, stronger and have a better training background behind me."

"I love to race," he said. "I always want to win and always swim my hardest."

The attention now turns to athlietics for the Cayman team, with Ronald Forbes competing in round 1 of the Men’s 110m Hurdles on Monday 18 August, and Cydonie Mothersill competes in round 1 of the Women’s 200m on Tuesday 19 August.

(Photos Shurna Robbins)