Swimmers dive into first meet of 2016
Participants at the Winter Sprint Meet
(CNS): The Stingray Swim Club (SSC) hosted the year’s first fully officiated competitive event, the EY Winter Sprint Meet, at the Lions Aquatic Centre this past weekend. Joining Stingray were swimmers from Camana Bay Aquatic Club, Seven Mile Swimmers and Brac Barracudas, as well as Stingray’s Special Olympic swimmers who train regularly with the club and compete in all their meets.
Depending on their age group, swimmers took part in 25m or 50m races – and for some swimmers, the 100m individual medley, a fast-paced sprint which can only be swum in short-course pools.
Stingray’s head coach, David Pursley, spoke of the benefits of this event. “Any time young swimmers can compete in a fully officiated meet is good. At this meet we paired up our high performance and senior swimmers with our younger gold, silver and bronze swimmers…allowing the olders swimmers to develop their leadership and mentoring skills; ensuring the younger swimmers were comfortable with their races and the meet processes and procedures; and providing a positive, encouraging atmosphere for team building and growth for the whole team.”
Jeffrey Short, a partner at event sponsor EY, praised the participants. “The commitment and dedication of Cayman’s young swimmers is something our community should be proud of. Swimmers are disciplined, committed and focused – characteristics which will certainly make them better leaders in the future.
“We are proud to support them today, knowing that they are a part of Cayman’s tomorrow; and we are proud to once again support Stingray Swim Club, a sporting organisation which has been a part of Cayman’s swimming community for 20 years.”
Next up on the competitive calendar is the Pete Ribbins Consolidated Water Swim Meet, set for 29-31 January, followed by the Cayman Islands National Championships, from 11-14 February.
