Cayman’s swimmers earn 14 medals
(L-R) Swim team members Jillian Crooks, Stefano Bonati, Jake Alberga, Avery Lambert, Allyson Belfonte, Corey Frederick-Westerborg, Jordan Crooks, Sabine Ellison and Sophie Ackerley.
(CNS Local Life): Cayman’s National Swim Team came home last week with 14 medals from the Central American and Caribbean Swimming Confederation (CCCAN) Championships held in Aruba, clocking 10 national and CIASA records, and a CCCAN record, and notching 46 personal bests in 67 swims. Overall, CCCAN hosted 550 swimmers across all disciplines and close to 400 athletes in competitive swimming over 151 events.
“Cayman has become a competitive force and a challenger to much bigger teams from bigger islands,” stated CIASA (Cayman Islands Aquatic Sports Association) in a press release.
CCCAN is an age-group swimming championship with 11-12, 13-14, 15-17 and 18-and-over categories. The Cayman swimmers, ranging in age from 12 to 15, competing at the event were Jake Alberga, Corey Frederick-Westerborg, Jillian Crooks, Allyson Belfonte, Sophie Ackerley, Avery Lambert, Sabine Ellison, Stefano Bonati and Jordan Crooks.
The 11-12 girls team ranked second overall, demonstrating Cayman’s young swimmers are “the ones to watch”, said CIASA. Crooks (11) particularly stood out in that group, setting national records in all nine of her events, in which she took five golds, three silver and a bronze, and added a bronze in a co-ed team relay.
Coach Celeb Miller said of the overall results: “Our swimmers exceeded expectations and look good going forward with this next generation of swimmers. They really stepped up and filled the gap that was made by some of our older swimmers graduating and heading off to college.”
Coach Bailey Weathers added, “The timing of the event was not ideal after exams and between other meets, but all of our swimmers really performed above what we were expecting. We are very proud of this young team’s performance and results.”
The CCCAN championship is held every other year and it had been more than five years since Cayman sent a team. The competitive swimming event took place 29 June to 3 July.
CIASA/national LCM (long-course metres) records at CCCAN:
11-12 Girls:
50 Back – Jillian Crooks 32.11 (30 June): CIASA/national record
100 Fly – Jillian Crooks 1:06.87 (30 June): CIASA/national record
200 Free – Jillian Crooks 2:16.95 (1 July): CIASA/national record
50 Fly – Jillian Crooks 30.08 (1 July): CIASA/national record
100 Back – Jillian Crooks 1:10.45 (1 July): CIASA/national record
200 IM – Jillian Crooks 2:36.70 (2 July): National record
100 Free – Jillian Crooks 1:01.72 (2 July): CIASA/national record
50 Free – Jillian Crooks 27.46 (3 July): CIASA/national record
200 Back – Jillian Crooks 2:33.98 (3 July): CIASA/national record
13-14 Boys:
50 Free – Corey Frederick-Westerborg 26.06 (3 July): CIASA/national record
