Cayman now 5th in Island Games
(CNS): It's day four of the Natwest Island Games 2013 and Cayman's athletes continue to impress. New medals. New records. New standings. As of Thursday morning, Cayman overtook Bermuda in the medal table and are now at fifth place with 30 medals, 12 of them Gold and 14 Silver. The games are becoming a razor thin race as second to sixth place in medal standings are all only separated by a single Gold medal, meaning these last two days of competition could see some big changes.
In Athletics, Alexander Pascal broke the Island Games' record in Men's Javelin Throw with his Gold medal winning effort of 70.66. Carl and Carlos Morgan refused to settle for anything less than Gold and Silver medals in Men's Long Jump. Carl was the defending Long Jump champion for the previous 2011 Island Games.
Swimming added yet even more medals to its haul. Brett and Shaune Fraser won Gold and Silver in the Men's 50m Fly and Gold and Silver as well in the Men's 100m Freestyle. Brett broke the record for the 50m Fly and Shaune beat theone for 100m Freestyle. Lara Butler claimed Silver in Women's 200m Backstroke.
Cayman's Men and Women's Beach Volleyball teams were both just barely edged out in the finals to take home Silver medals. Edison Mclean also earned a Silver in Individual Olympic Skeet.
Stay up to date with the latest results from Cayman's athletes and standings with the link below.
http://www.natwestislandgames2013results.com/default.aspx
Category: Sports
Tom McCallum here, reporting from Bermuda, where the swimming competition closed on Thursday evening. I was privileged to be on deck for all eight sessions (representing Cayman as an official).
Our team of 6 swimmers were very selectively chosen based on their ability to be competitive at this meet, and compete they did, with 21 medals (nine gold) and numberous Island Games records.
Bermuda held the competition in their newly completed 50 metre pool complex.
Cayman has no 50 metre pool, though Cayman Swimming has had plans in place for a number of years to build that facility next to the existing Lions Pool.
The primary reason to build that pool is to create the capacity to introduce swimming fully into the curriculum of our schools. Few know this, but the national curriculum includes swimming lessons sufficient to have every child in Cayman able to swim before they leave primary school… but it has not been implemented due to lack of pool space.
Putting it bluntly, until we build that pool and "waterproof Cayman's kids", lives will continue to be lost due to lack of basic swimming skills.
The primary reason, therefore, to build the 50 metre pool is to save lives and improve the quality of live for all in Cayman. Winning more and more medals at swimming competitions ? This will be a natural outcome as more children learn to swim and some choose to compete, but the drive to build the pool is to waterproof Cayman.
So.. what will it take to have our public and private sectors "Pool Together" to fund the 50 metre pool ? This project has been over a decade in the making, yet has never been a high enough priority for those in a position to make the cCI$8m investment.
We have plans in place for the "Pool of Dreams". Who will help Cayman Swimming make it happen ? contact ciasaboard@gmail.com or visit ciasa.ky if you are willing to be a part of this nationally important project.
Silly me. I thought "Island Games"….we are the ONLY Caribbean ISLAND represented. (Bermuda is an Atlantic Island)
Have a look.
Not sure what your point is here, can you elaborate ?
A review of the Island Games online will show you that it is open to islands of smallpopultations, with well over 20 islands from around the world (as far away as the Falkland Islands) represented, and (I believe) 16 in the Swimming.
Certainly more Caribbean Islands could choose to be part of the Island Games association, but the games are a wonderful event aimed at providing a level of competition that lets smaller islands compete with populations of similar sizes.
Over the 15 games, the standard has lifted steadily. Speaking for swimming alone, there were numerous high level international swimmers in the meet (including but not only the Fraser brothers), with 37 records broken in swimming, following 38 in 2011 in the Isle of Wight.
I like the fact that the medals table is done the proper way, ie. ranked by number of golds first, then number of silvers to tie break teams with the same number of golds, then the number of bronze to tie break teams with the same number of golds and silvers. This is the way all medal tables were done until American TV worked out that "total medals" would mean that the USA would always come top above the USSR and then the Chinese.
I think the Isle of Man team have an unfair advantage since they have three legs.