Stingray Swim Club team champions in Jamaica meet
Stingray Swim Club members with their meet trophy
(CNS): Stingray Swim Club (SSC) had an excellent outing in Kingston, Jamaica, at the Dean Martin Memorial ‘AB’ Swim Meet, held 23-25 October, coming home with an overall team championship, 34 meet records, four high-point award winners and a new Cayman Islands Amateur Swimming Association (CIASA) long course record.
Stingray’s 25-strong contingent, competing against well-known Jamaican teams, including Y-Speedos, Tornadoes and Marlins, which overall comprised more than 100 swimmers, produced excellent results with the highest scoring swims of the meet. Points were awarded based on quality of swims rather than overall placing, which gave a much-needed advantage to quality over quantity.
“This meet is a long-standing tradition in Kingston – and to see some of the older records fall was great fun,” said Stingray’s head coach David Pursley. “The time standard point system – which awarded points based on 2013-2016 time standards – along with the opportunity to set new meet records made for some excellent motivation to our swimmers.”
Nine of Stingray’s 25 swimmers were 12 and under and their development over the past year, guided by coach Tim Leonhart, has been tremendous, said SSC. Pursley spoke to the impact their success had on the meet results. “Coach Tim’s swimmers came through with the highest scoring swims to give us the lead. Our older swimmers have been in heavy training and had to step up to the challenge to try and compete with heart even when tired … they responded to the challenge very well and had some outstanding performances.”
Stingray swimmers won five of the six entered relays and Pursley explained what these victories really meant to the team. “It wasn’t just the victories but also the individual performances in the relays. The overwhelming majority of the relay splits were faster than the individual performance earlier in the meet. It shows the character of the team and the willingness to sacrifice and give it their all for the sake of the team – and the 13-14 girls were even able to walk away with meet records in both of their relays.”
With the excitement of the meet behind them, 15 of the club’s senior level swimmers stayed in Kingston an extra two days to train in the 50m National Stadium pool. Reflecting on the training camp, Pursley said, “I was honestly just as excited for the training after the meet as the competition itself. We unfortunately do not have a 50m Olympic-sized pool here in Cayman. Our swimmers have been making it work at the highest levels with half the pool that is used in competition but it is vitally important that we take full advantage of what little opportunity we get to swim in a full-size pool.
“We did just that, and in two days swam 30,000 metres over the course of 10 hours, helping to build the aerobic foundation we need to carry us through to December.”
High points awards
- Catriona MacRae, 15-16 girls
- Jordan Crooks, 11-12 boys
- Ria Plunkett, 11-12 girls
- Corey Westerborg, 9-10 boys
Meet records: (previous times in brackets)
- Girls 15-16:
Catriona MacRae 800 fr 10:06.15 (10:31.22); 200 bk 2:43.26 (2:50.44)
- Boys 15-16:
Cole Morgan 100 bk 1:04.03 (1:05.65); 200 bk 2:27.43 (2:35.66); Jonathan Key 200 fr 2:05.00 (2:05.54); 400 fr 4:31.44 (4:38.69)
- Girls 13-14:
Samantha Bailey 400 IM 5:47.42 (5:49.76); Ella Plunkett 100 bk 1:09.17 (1:14.67); 200 IM 2:41.60 (2:41.74); 200 br 3:00.23 (3:00.35)
Ella Plunkett, Sarah Jackson, Stefanie Boothe, Samantha Bailey 200 medley relay 2:14.74 (2:21.13)
Samantha Bailey, Sarah Jackson, Ella Plunkett, Stefanie Boothe 200 free relay 1:59.82 (2:01.05)
- Girls 11-12: Ali Jackson 50 fr 29.21 (29.26); Ria Plunkett (12): 800 fr 10:03.8 (10:34.03); 200 fr 2:21.74 (2:22.13); 400 IM 5:47.46 (6:27.30); 400 fr 4:55.28 (5:24.09)
- Boys 11-12: Jordan Crooks 200 fly 2:34.67 (2:37.33); 100 fly 1:07.26 (1:07.74); 100 fr 1:00.84 (1:02.19); Zachary Moore: 1500 fr 18:51.65 (19.48.67); 400 IM 5:24.99 (5:41.74); 200 bk 2:30.67 (2:40.99)
- Girls 9-10: Olivia Plunkett 200 bk 3:00.25 (3:11.40); Stephanie Royston 200 IM 2:50.04 (3:17.54); 400 fr 5:31.82 (6:37.21); 200 br 3:22.63 (3:28.06)
- Boys 9-10: Corey Westerborg 200 IM 2:48.99 (2:58.08); 50 bk 38.66 (36.65); 100 fr 1:07.29 (1:09.16); 50 fr 30.34 (31.02)
CIASA record
- Boys 9-10: Sam Dakers 200 br 3:41.17 (3:56.94)
The next home event on the Stingray Swim Club calendar is the Mike Lockwood Memorial Pirates Week Meet, 19-22 November, which offers a full array of races – sprint, and middle and long distance.
For more information, email meet director Kathy Jackson
