Stingray Swimmers shine at Island Games

Led by Shaune and Brett Fraser, Stingray's elite put on a powerhouse performance in Hamilton Bermuda at the 2013 Island Games.

In total, Lara Butler, Geoff Butler, Alex McCallum and the Fraser brothers hauled in 21 medals for the Cayman Islands, including 9 gold and 8 silver. This amount was almost half of the medals won by the Cayman Islands in all sports combined, and matched the most ever by the Cayman Swim Team at the Games.

The team did so well it was featured on swimswam.com, one of the worlds leading swimming publications. Click here to read the story http:// swimswam.com/2013-island-games-b/

HIGHLIGHTS

Shaune Fraser breaks the Island Games Record on Day 2 of competition in the 100 Butterfly, taking the gold medal in a time of 51.06. Younger brother Brett takes the silver for the first of four double-medal performances by the Frasers. Shaune also made podium in the 50 Fly (silver), the 100 Free (silver) and the 50 Free (Bronze). Shaune not only stepped up to swim the breaststroke legs of the Medley Relays, he also anchored the 4x100 Freestyle Relay, which captured the gold on the last night of competition.

Lara Butler strikes gold three times, first in the 400IM, the opening event for the women at Island Games. Lara followed this up with a bronze medal in the 100 Butterfly directly afterward. Lara's most exciting race happened on Day 2, when she squaked out gold in the 100 Back, leading the race, start to finish from all the way out in Lane 1. Lara's third gold came in the 200 Butterfly on the final day of competition. Lara reigned in the most individual medals of any swimmer, seven.

Alex McCallum led off all four relays to bring home four pieces of hardware. One Bronze, two Silver and a Gold medal. Alex had the meet of a lifetime, lowering all three backstroke PB's (50, 100, 200) and finaling in all three as well. Most impressive was his 200 backstroke, where he finished a close fourth, just outside the medals stand. Alex dropped 3 seconds in a cruising time of 2:10 during prelims, then amped it up in finals to drop another 4 seconds. Look for Alex to get on the medals stand in Jersey, 2015, and bring home individual medals for Cayman.

Geoff Butler did his thing throughout the meet, capturing silver in the 1500m freestyle in a time of 15:46 on day 1 of competition, a mere 21 second PB. Swimming strong on the relays, Gold medals eluded Geoff until the final day of competition. In possibly the most exciting race of the entire meet, Geoff slowly tracked down the leader in the 400m freestyle over the final 150 meters, finally coming from a full body length and a half behind in the last 25 of the race to steal the Gold Medal. Geoff won the race by .2 seconds and clocked a time of 3:56.91.

Brett Fraser went triple gold in the 100 Free, 50 Fly and 50 Free, while coming in second for the Silver medal in the 100 Fly. Brett used lightning fast starts and underwaters to rocket himself to the front of every race. Brett swam his races with Olympic fire, breaking Island Games records in all three of his Gold Medal swims. Brett finished in 47.65 (100 Free), 23.26 (50 Fly) and 21.73 (50 Free). Brett also dazzled the crowd with his dare-devil relay takeovers, which were heart-stoppingly close, to say the least.

THE RELAY

The combo of Alex McCallum, Brett Fraser, Geoff Butler, and Shaune Fraser teamed up for one last relay swim of the games on Night 4 of Finals. Twice already the team had been denied the Gold Medal by the reach of a hand, in both the 4x100 Medley Relay and 4x50 Freestyle Relay. Led off by Island Games rookie Alex McCallum and anchored by Cayman's most seasoned veteran Shaune Fraser, the boys powered through to a commanding victory in what was the final event of the 2013 Island Games. Not only did the team win gold, they also broke the Games record in a time of 3:20.65.

This marked the first men's Gold Medal in a relay for the Cayman Islands, ever. It is the first time in their long, storied career that Shaune and Brett have stood atop the podium for the Island in a relay event. Congratulations gentlemen, well deserved!