Stingray swimmers topple records at local meet

(SSC): Stingray Swim Club (SSC) grabbed the attention of the CIASA Selection Committee and of club rivals CBAC and Team TI at the recent CIASA National Swimming Championships when they walked away with 5 new CIASA records; 12 new National records and 7 new Stingray Club records. Stingray's Head Coach Andy Copley, along with Coach Joanna Manderson, were on deck for the four days of the meet with swimmers ranging in age from 7 to Masters and both were delighted with the team's results. Coach Andy had this to say about the meet. "Our team didn't rest going into this competition, so I wasn't necessarily thinking we were going to get stellar results," he said.

. The kids surprised me though and swam out of their skin. Our little guys and our seniors came together and pulled out huge swims. Some of them were as surprised as I was."

"Having 15 kids qualify for CARIFTA is pretty cool but I think it's just a testament to how hard these guys work. I keep telling them to point their aim beyond CARIFTA and they have. For many of them, qualifying for this meet is great, but it's only a step on the path toward qualifying for bigger, more challenging meets like Island Games, CAC Games and Commonwealth Games. I feel good that we're on the right path but there is a long way to go still. Luckily we've got a group of swimmers willing to make the journey."

There were multiple notable swims, but of particular note were those which broke long standing SSC club records that were previously held by Cayman's most successful swimmers such as Brett Fraser and Lara Butler:

Corey Westerborg (9-10) took down Brett Fraser’sancient SSC 100 freestyle record in a time of 1:14.22 (Brett Fraser 1:15:52 – 2000) and also took down Brett’s  SSC 50 freestyle in a time of 33:17 (Brett Fraser 33:28 – 2000); while Miquela Montana downed Lara Butler’s 11-12 200 breaststroke National Record in a time of 3:08:74 (Lara Butler 3:11:24 – 2007).
Other SSC records are at the end of this release. Please note too that CIASA records may be held by swimmers or any nationality as long as he or she is a CIASA member; National records may only be held by Caymanians.

SSC Vice President, Peter Plunkett attended all four days of the Nationals and had this to say about the inaugural event:

“CIASA is to be congratulated for putting on an excellent meet. Our swimmers were proud to be recognised as National Champions and to receive their medals in a ceremony – and I know that they are already looking forward to next year’s event. On behalf of our Board and our members I know we all want to thank Coach Andy and Coach Jo for everything they do for our club and for our swimmers.”

Stingray members travelled to Kingston, Jamaica for some long course swimming at the Walter Rogers Age Group National Championships February 27-March 2 – highlights to follow soon; and then it will be back to the Lions Aquatic Centre to prepare for the rest of this year’s competitive season including the Consolidated Water Pete Ribbins Memorial, CARIFTA, the Ernst & Young Summer Burner and the Lions Sprint Meet.

For information on Stingray Swim Club visit our website www.caymanswimming.com  or email stingraysec@gmail.com .