Butler, Morgan, Bailey, Macrae bring home CARIFTA hardware

 

Geoffrey Butler kicked off the proceedings on the first night of CARIFTA, blazing the competition and capturing gold in the first final for Cayman in the 1500 Freestyle. Butler posted a personal best (16:18) and flashed his golden grin to the crowd, humbly capturing his first ever CARIFTA title in this, his last go 'round.

 

Butler kept the good times rolling on Night 2 of competition by capturing bronze in the 200 freestyle (1:59.47) and silver in the 400 IM (4:50.79). On this night though, he was joined on the podium by his fellow teammate, the youngest female swimmer for Cayman, Sam Bailey. Sam came home strong in the back half of the 100 backstroke (1:15.77) to take third, swimming all the way out in Lane 1. She was joined by Ella Plunkett, who placed 8th overall, competing in her first ever CARIFTA final. Sam also swam in the final of the 200 freestyle final, placing 6th overall.

 

Stefanie Boothe made her case for a medal in the 50 butterfly, jumping from 11th seed to 4th in prelims, then making another drop in finals (31.67), but was narrowly edged out for the Bronze. 

 

Day 3 saw fatigue set in for Stingray's CARIFTA swimmers during the preliminary session, but after a good rest, Geoff Butler, the medals machine, once again rose to the occasion and pulled Cayman along, stealing a silver medal in the 200 IM, going from 4th position to 2nd in the final lap of the race.

 

The final day of pool competition proved to be the most exciting and emotional for Cayman's swimmers. Butler led the way one last time by once again capturing the silver medal in the 400 free, making it a perfect 5 for 5 (finals and medals) in the pool. Cole Morgan capped his amazing meet by surging to the silver medal in the 200 backstroke (2:18.30), a time over 22 seconds faster than what he swam last year. Morgan finaled in the 50, 100, and 200 backstroke events and nearly jumped into the 200 IM final, placing ninth overall.

 

The 11-12 Girls duo of Sam Bailey and Ella Plunkett provided the most riveting storyline of the final day in the 200 backstroke. Bailey and Plunkett touched first and second in their preliminary heat, jumping all the way up to 2nd and 3rd seed overall. Plunkett dropped almost 10 seconds and moved from 15th seed to 3rd. In the evening final, Sam Bailey came screaming down the home stretch, passing two different swimmers to touch the wall first, more than a second ahead of her closest competitor. In a last gasp attempt to touch the wall, Bailey dove down and accidentally touched the wall completely submerged, disqualifying her from the race.

 

Despite this, Bailey proved she was the fastest in the pool and in the Caribbean, making her team, coaches and parents very proud. Plunkett finished 6th overall in the event, proving she has what it takes to get to the next level!

 

After the pool races were settled, there was still the Open Water 5k event to attend to, and Stingray got after it again. Geoff Butler added to his medal haul by coming in 3rd overall, taking home another Bronze medal. And finally getting back into form on the final day, Catriona Macrae put together a gutsy performance, also capturing Bronze in the 13-14 Girls age group. On the final lap of 5, Macrae was making her move toward the silver medalist when she lost her cap. Not hesitating, she grabbed the cap (you must finish with your swim cap, for safety reasons) and swam with it in her hand the rest of the way. 

 

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS and PB'S

Alex Dakers - 50 breast, 100 breast, 200 breast

Kyle Fraser - 50 fly, 50 free, 100 free (100% PB)

Catriona Macrae - 50 backstroke PB, finaled in both 50 and 100 backstroke

Ella Plunkett - 50 back, 100 back, 200 back, 200 free, 200 IM (100% PB)

Stefanie Boothe - 50 fly, 100 fly, 50 free, 100 free (100% PB)

Sarah Jackson - 100 breast, 200 breast

Geoff Butler - 1500 free, 200 free, 400 IM, 200 IM, 400 free (100% PB)

Ashley Theaker - 100 free, 200 free, 400 free

Cole Morgan - 50 back, 100 back, 200 back, 200 IM (100% PB)

Sam Bailey - 50 free, 50 back, 100 back, 200 back, 200 free

 

Cole Morgan qualifies for Canadian Age Group National Championship in Montreal in the 200 Backstroke

 

Ella Plunkett qualifies for Irish Age Group National Championship in Dublin in the 50 Backstroke, 100 Backstroke and 200 Backstroke.

 

Geoff Butler qualifies for British Gas Nationals in London this summer in the 400 Freestyle

 

Katie Klein and Geoff Butler elected as Cayman Islands Team Captains