International meets prepared swimmers for CARIFTA
(CNS Local Life): Ahead of the recent CARIFTA Aquatics Championships swim coaches strived to give Cayman’s young athletes of various ages experience in overseas meets to ensure they were ready for the regional competition, held 20-23 April in Barbados. For Stingray Swim Club (SSC) head coach David Pursley and assistant coach Macon Crowder that meant ensuring that senior, age group and national team swimmers were challenged and ready to compete internationally.
Members of both SSC and Camana Bay Aquatic Club (CBAC) participated in international meets over the last two months, stated a SSC press release. Stingray senior swimmers Alex Dakers, Krishna Adapa and Sarah Jackson travelled to Clearwater for the Spring Florida International Championship 20-23 March. In addition, both SSC and CBAC swimmers headed to Jacksonville, Florida, for an age group international meet held 12-14 April.
Then Stingray’s Samantha Bailey ventured the farthest away, competing in the New Zealand National Championships, held 16-20 April.
Most recently, the two clubs, along with Seven Mile Swimmers, joined forces when they travelled to Barbados for CARIFTA as members of the Cayman Islands national swim team.
Pursley said of the international events: “Travelling overseas for season-ending championship meets provides our swimmers with a depth of competition that isn’t afforded here in Cayman and they serve as a great barometer of our progress. Swimmers see more competition than what they are normally exposed to, and stepping up in a heat of seven swimmers they have never seen before and do not know brings a different element to competition and can really improve the psyche.”
The EAJ Spring into Finals meet in Jacksonville proved another valuable experience for Cayman’s swimmers, with CBAC head coach Caleb Miller saying it “was a huge success for the developing swimmers in the Cayman Islands. The kids threw down some incredible swims and I could not be more proud of their effort and resiliency throughout the meet.
“I think this meet will definitely serve as a motivational springboard for these kids and help them to learn to love the sport even more and to see that there is a bigger swimming community out there. It was also great to see the camaraderie of the two clubs at the meet both of which represented the Cayman Islands with pride.”
Stingray’s Crowder added, “This was a great opportunity for me to spend more time with our swimmers and to get to know them all better. I am looking forward to having the full summer season with the club and seeing what improvement we can make along the way.”
Next up for Stingray is the Lions Sprint Meet on Saturday, 18 May, which it hosts in partnership with the Lions Club in recognition of their significant contributions to swimming. In keeping with the Lions’ ethos of community service, the meet is free for all swimmers who participate.
For information on the Lions Sprint Meet, email Kathy Jackson at skyjackswim@gmail.com
