Swimming siblings qualify for London Olympics

(CNS): Cayman’s swimming superstars, siblings Shaune and Brett Fraser, have both now qualified to compete in the 2012 London Olympics and will be part of the Cayman Islands squad. The brothers, who compete as elite athletes for the Cayman Islands, achieved the Olympic “A” standard in the same event — the 200 m freestyle. Shaune earned his Olympic spot at the recent FINA World Swimming Championships in Shanghai, China, with a time of 1.47.73, and Brett qualified with his gold winning performance Wednesday, 3 August, with a time of 1.47.56 seconds, which has nudged him up to 19th in the current world rankings in the event.

Brett clocked the time in the 200m freestyle at the ConocoPhillips USA Swimming National Championships at Stanford University in Palo-Alto, California.
 
Cayman national swimming coach Dominic Ross said that summer 2011 was all about Olympic qualification for the brothers.

“The back-to-back events of the FINA World Swimming Championships and the US National Championships provided the perfect platform to attempt to achieve this goal,” he said.

Both swimmers have also earned “B” standards required forOlympic selection in other events. In China, Shaune swam in his second event, the 100m butterfly, to a time of 54.19 seconds, which is equal to the “B” standard required for Olympic selection in that event. Brett also met “B” standards in both of his events in Shanghai – the 100 m freestyle in 48.98 seconds and the 50m freestyle in 22.65 seconds, improving on his own national record in the latter, the coach added

The “B” standard for Olympic selection does not automatically qualify a swimmer for the Olympics. Any unfilled spaces following the official qualifying period will be filled by swimmers who have attained those “B” standard times, Ross explained.

Sports Minister Mark Scotland congratulated the local swimming stars and lauded the brothers' impressive achievement: “I am elated that Shaune and Brett will be swimming for the Cayman Islands at the summer Olympics in London next year,” he said. “Their consistency, dedication and superb effort are an inspiration to us all. I wish them the best as they train in the coming months.”

Brett is also the latest sporting star to join Cayman’s six other elite athletes, who are so named because they are top performers in their field. They are contracted to the Ministry of Sports to represent the Cayman Islands as professional athletes.