Big Swims Kick Off Christmas Open

After the first session of the Christmas Open in Kingston, Jamaica, Stingray's contingent of 18 swimmers stands atop the overall team leaderboard, led by awesome performances on both the boys and girls sides!

Iain Macrae provided the nights biggest delight by shaving 6 seconds off his 100 back time to place 4th overall, capturing his first ever CARIFTA qualifying time! Cole Morgan and Iain McCallum followed suit by placing 1st and 2nd in the Open 200 IM, both going under the CARIFTA qualifying time as well.

On the girls side, Samantha Bailey tore to a 5 second PB and a gold medal in the first event of the meet, the 200 IM. Teammates Stefanie Boothe and Miquela Montana also brought in personal bests. Ella Plunkett provided a spark in the 100 backstroke, bringing home gold by a huge margin and breaking the meet record, previously held by Sam Bailey! Catriona Macrae swam a strong 100 back as well, finishing first overall in the Open Category, despite running into the lane line on several occasions.

To finish the night, Katie Klein dropped almost 20 seconds in her 800 freestyle, placing 2nd overall. Andrew Smilley placed 2nd overall as well with a drop in the 1500 free, but teammate Jonathan Key brought home the gold in a commanding victory, dropping over 24 seconds off his short course time from four weeks ago at the MLM Meet. 

Personal Bests also came from Ria Plunkett, John Bodden, Alex Dakers and Hayley Roulstone!

It's about to jump off again... LET'S GO STINGRAY!