Third times a charm.... usually. The fourth time was the charm for Monina Thompson as she flew to her first CARIFTA qualifying time in the 50 Butterfly tonight. It was her last chance, the meet was over, and the lights were getting dim. There was no room for error. In the morning time trial Thompson posted a time that missed the cut by .03 seconds. Less than the blink of an eye. She was not devastated, she was determined. And on her fourth time swimming the 50 butterfly in three...

No shave, no taper, no problem. Not for Simon Butler. Simon came flying out of the gate and held a smoking fast pace throughout his final of the 200 IM, chopping off 12 seconds to capture his first CARIFTA qualifying time as well as the gold medal. Butler will join teammates in Jamaica next week to try and grab more qualifying times. Sam Bailey and Ella Plunkett, just moments beforehand, also added to their CARIFTA list by clocking PB's in the 200 IM. Sam took the gold medal in a...

Medals, Records and Qualifying Times.... OH MY! It was another night of surprises at the CIASA National Championship. After a an average run of swims in the morning heats, Stingrays swimmers stepped up and laid the smack down in finals. Though I haven't personally seen the printout of official results, I am reasonably certain two more Stingray and CIASA records went down tonight. Stefanie Boothe broke her sisters record in the 50 Butterfly while at the same nabbing her first CARIFTA, and Corey Westerborg took down another backstroke record, this...

Alison Jackson followed the lead of teammates Chris Courtis and Corey Westerborg, breaking the CIASA record in the final of the 11-12 Girls 50 Backstroke, swimming a blisterin 33.86. With Jackson's record, that makes it three records broken in the same event on the same day! Jackson's teammates rushed the podium tonight! Stingray brought home 13 gold medals in 22 events as well as 7 silver medals and 4 bronze. Time drops came by the truckload on day 1, with many swimmers dropping time in the same event in both...

More than 1500 miles apart, Chris Courtis and Corey Westerborg took down CIASA records in the 50 backstroke on the same day, in the same setting. Courtis went a 26.16 to finally break Brett Frasers record at the preliminary session on day 1 of the Canadian Interuniversity Championship. Westerborg went a 38.66, chopping a second off the previous record at the preliminary session of the CIASA National Championship. Both will compete in the event in finals this evening with hopes of lowering the records even further! More updates after finals...

All families and swimmers are encouraged to make their way to the CIS Pool this weekend for the Cayman Islands National Championship hosted by CIASA. Here are the dates and times, as well as contested events for finals.   THURSDAY, FEB 20 4:45 PM   1500 Freestyle 800 Freestyle 200 Breaststroke 50 Backstroke 100 Butterfly     FRIDAY, FEB 21 4:45 PM   200 Freestyle 50 Butterfly 100 Backstroke 400 Individual Medley     SATURDAY, FEB 22 4:45 PM   200 Individual Medley 50 Breaststroke 100 Freestyle 9-10 4x100 Medley...

In a mad flurry of a weekend, Stingray swimmers brought home hardware and took down records across the globe, starting with Chris Courtis. Courtis, swimming in the OUA Provincial Championship Meet in Canada, tied the CIASA and Stingray record in the 50 backstroke, clocking a time of 26.17, giving him 5th place overall. He now shares the record with Brett Fraser, one of Cayman's Olympic Swimming heroes. Courtis will shave and taper for the Canadian Collegiate Swimming Championship in two weeks with the hope of breaking Brett's record outright. In...

Chris Courtis, swimming for Wilfred-Laurier University, kicked off the 2014 Ontario University Athletics Swimming Championship with a monster swim in the 100 backstroke. After adding three tenths in his preliminary swim and finishing 9th place, just outside the A-Final, Courtis came back for an inspired evening swim. Chris chopped off a full second from his preliminary swim to capture first place in the B Final and clock a time of 56.44. The time qualifies him for CIS (College National Championship)  in three weeks, an event he will be shaved and...

Coach Bailey Weathers will take a group of four Stingray swimmers to Jamaica this weekend to participate in the Karl Dalhouse Meet, taking place at the National Stadium. Ella Plunkett, Sam Bailey, Alex Dakers and Iain Macrae all set off with a purpose in mind. Iain and Sam look to add more events to their CARIFTA program, while Ella will be chasing down her first cut. Alex Dakers, already having qualified for Scottish Age Group Nationals in two events, will seek times in the 200 breaststroke, 200 butterfly and 200...

The February 2-3rd Island Heritage Sprint Plus swim attracted over 150 swimmers from Stingray Swim Club (SSC), Camana Bay Aquatic Club (CBAC) and Team TI (TI) and was characterized by PBs, CARIFTA times achieved or lowered and events swam for the first time. The Sprint Plus, still a relatively new format in Cayman, allows swimmers to compete in the usual 25m (U6 and U8 swimmers) and 50m Sprint events as well as the longer 100m and 200m sprints or middle distance events as well. Stingray Swim Club’s Head Coach, Andy...