Dakers and Theaker capture CARIFTA times on Day 1 in Jamaica

After a rough start in the 200 IM's (3 DQ's in 6 races), Stingray swimmers roared to life, keeping their roll of PB's and Gold Medals in Jamaica alive.

Stefanie Boothe started the day off by dropping 2 seconds in the 200 IM, giving her another CARIFTA time and placing her fourth overall. Ella Plunkett also dropped five seconds in the event, despite a bad back to breast turn which left her swimming in the wrong lane :D. Cole Morgan also put together an impressive 2IM, nearly being edged out for second place in a time of 2:32. Bronze is pretty darn good too though

Then came the 50 Butterfly. Ten swims, ten personal bests, and none by less than a full second. Stef Boothe lowered her best down to 32.40, placing second by a hair. Kyle Fraser and Iain McCallum both dropped more than a second as well, getting them both well under 30 seconds. Liam Henry roared to a fast finish, giving him a 40.92. 

But the spoils in the 50 Butterfly goes to Alex Dakers, who swam out of his skin to not only drop over 3 seconds, but also to win his heat and capture his first ever CARIFTA qualifying time. Dakers is 5' -4" tall and weighs approximately ten pounds, proving that it's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's size of the fight in the dog! Way to go Alex!

Not to be outdone, Ashley Theaker gave her Stingray teammates and coach a heart attack by negative splitting the 800 freestyle (out in 5:10.2, back in 5:09.3) to finish with a time of 10:19.5, also giving Ashley her first CARIFTA qualifying time! Not only did Ashley qualify for CARIFTA, she also won the event in impressive fashion, beating her next closest opponent by more than 11 seconds and chopping 36 seconds off her previous best.

More fast swims to come on day 2 of competition from Kingston, Jamaica. Stay tuned...