Stingray swimmers started 2019 with open water  beach training on New Year’s Day and have not slowed down since – with swim action taking place every weekend in January. 

Board of Directors

The new directors, elected at the end of 2018 at Stingray Swim Club’s AGM, assumed their roles effective 1 January. The new President, Marlene West, is a well known personality in sporting circles and she – along with her new board and coaching team – are looking forward to another successful year.  

Other members of the new board are: Lynne Walton, Vice President; Victoria Havlin-Hollingworth, Treasurer; Samantha Fletcher-Watts: Secretary; Kathryn Jackson, Public Relations Officer; Karen Watson, Corporate Sponsorship; Tracey-ann Lawle, Parent Group Liasion; Lucy Muyunga, Social/Banquet; Bonnie Bloxham, Equipment/Apparel and Supplies and Carrol Marc Cooper, Fundraising. 

Friday Night Lights and EY Sprint – January 4-5th Friday Night Lights and the EY Winter Sprint Meet were once again the scene of Cayman’s first swim meet for the year. Hosted by Stingray Swim Club (SSC) at the Lions Aquatic Centre (LAC) Cayman’s finest and fastest swimmers, of varying ages and abilities, were back on the blocks for the first fully officiated meets of 2019. Joining Stingray were swimmers from Camana Bay Aquatic Club (CBAC), Seven Mile Swimmers (SMS) and Stingray’s Special Olympic swimmers who train regulalry with the club and compete in all their meets. 

Friday Night Lights saw the 11 & Over swimmers taking part in the long distance races – 400s, 800s and 1500s; while the EY Sprint is fast and furious with swimmers taking part, depending on their age group, in 25m or 50m races – and for some swimmers, the 100m IM a fast paced sprint event which (because it is a 100m IM event) can only be swum in short course pools.  

“The commitment and dedication of Cayman’s young swimmers is something our community should be proud of,” said Blaise Ting, Executive Director  EY Cayman Ltd. “We are proud to support Cayman’s swimmers, 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 over 20 years.” 

Friday Night Lights FINA High Points Swim winners were Female: Sam Bailey, 538 points for the 800m freestyle in a time of 9:49.21,and Male: Liam Henry, 524 points for the 200m freestyle in a time of 2:03.24. EY Sprint High Points Winners – who all won movie passes – were: 

Female 6&U Holly Clark Terrel, SSC; 7-8 Cassidy Coles, SSC; 9-10 Sierrah Broadbelt, SMS; 11-12 Harper Barrowman, SMS; 13-14 Kyra Rabess, SSC and 15&O Alison Jackson. Male 7=8 Charlie Dickson, SMS; 9-10 Jan Morris, SMS: 11-12 Will Sellars, SMS; 13-14 Corey Frederick-Westerborg, SSC and 15&O Liam Henry, SSC. 

CUC Open Water – January 12th The rescheduled 2018 CUC Open Water Sea Swim took place this past weekend and with fabulous conditions on Seven Mile Beach Stingray swimmers were among the athletes who turned out for the ½ mile swim.  Senior swimmers Alex Dakers, Liam Henry and Jake Bailey fnished 1 – 2- 3, and Elana Sinclair was 6th (first woman) and Raya Embury-Brown was 7th. Consolidated Water Pete Ribbins Memorial Meet This coming weekend, Friday 18 – 20, will see Cayman’s swimmers return to the pool – this time for a three-day meet which will see swimmers taking part in sprint, middle and long distance event. 

Pete Ribbins was an incredible athlete who understood firsthand the commitment, focus and dedication it takes to excel in a sport. An avid supporter of youth in sports. Pete was a firm believer in the importance of swimming – as both a life skill and a competitive sport – and Stingray is proud to honour his memory every year with this meet. Pool action this weekend is on Friday evening, starting at 6pm, and staring at 8:00am on Saturday and Sunday morning. Entry is free and everyone is enouraged to come out and support the swimmers as they compete. 

The BIG Swim – 25 January 

Four years ago Stingray Swim Club brought on two coaches for the first time as a non-profit. The club managed to secure the funds to support a second salary due to the massive fundraising effort put on by the club’s first swim-a-thon guided by then Head Coach Andy Copley. 

Since then Stingray has had countless medalists at Carifta, 13 different athletes break 72 National/CIASA records, and has sent 6 athletes to compete in college swimming, with 4 more on the way! None of this is possible without the help of volunteers, and fundraising efforts to support two staff members! 

Help Stingray continue to thrive as a club and keep the momentum going. Find a swimmer and make a pledge or got to the Go Fund Me Page – https://www.gofundme.com/ssc-swimathon and show your support there. 

Stingray’s Head Coach David Pursley commented, “We have started 2019 with a strong show of training, competition and team spirit. We are grateful to our sponsors, as anytime young swimmers can compete in a fully officiated meet it is good for their development; and speaking of fully officiated, we are also grateful to our Officials – who are all volunteers – and encourage all swim parents to consider training as an official. As an official you will be actively contributing to the positive development of your swimmer, and allowing all our swimmers to learn how to compete under the watchful eye of an official.” 

For more information contact Stingray’s Head Coach on [email protected].