Home / CARIFTA / Swimmers point to teamwork for success

Swimmers point to teamwork for success

It might be easy to think of swimming as largely an individual sport, but don’t tell that to members of the Cayman Islands national team which had the country’s most successful showing at the CARIFTA Swimming Championships in the Bahamas earlier this month.

Of the 19 teams that competed in the meet, the Cayman Islands finished third in the standings with 50 medals, the territory’s highest medal haul ever.

The team’ co-captain, Sarah Jackson, fully understands the importance of teamwork. She was part of three medal-winning relay swims in the girls 15-17 division.

“This year, we had a really good mix of swimmers and they all really wanted to do their best. Each person on the team scored points, which is something a lot of teams don’t get to say,” said Jackson, who prior to the games told CaymanSportsBuzz.com that winning a relay medal was one of her objectives heading to the Bahamas.

As strong as the team was, there were individual performers who led the way for Team Cayman, including Lauren Hew, who was the high points award winner among girls 15-17. Hew won eight individual medals and three in relays. She topped the podium six times, including in the 100m backstroke in which she set a new CARIFTA record of 1:05.94. Other gold medals came in the 50m backstroke, 200m backstroke, 100m freestyle, 200m freestyle, and 400m freestyle.

Lauren Hew topped the podium six times.

Corey Frederick-Westerborg was second among boys 11-12, while Avery Lambert was third among girls 11-12, Zachary Moore was third among boys 13-14, and Alison Jackson was fourth in the girls 13-14 division.

“I’m really happy and it’s nice to know that hard work pays off,” said Lambert about her strong showing, and added that her teammates spurred her on to do well. “Being part of a big team where so many people were doing well, it really makes you want to do better.”

Alison Jackson, the younger sister of the co-captain, despite her improved showing on a year ago, found greater joy in the team’s overall success than her own performance.

“Placing third overall as a team [means the most] because it just shows how much we have grown and what is possible when we all work together,” she told CaymanSportsBuzz.com.

The magnitude of the team’s performance might be better understood when you consider that after the first day this year, Cayman Islands swimmers made the podium 13 times. That’s more than they did in all pool events for the entire championships in 2016.

“We were definitely a stronger team and had great team spirit in the way we cheered each other on in the different races and even if we didn’t medal, you still had the team unit behind you,” Alison said.

Moore agreed. “It was much better than years before because we really felt like a team and it helped that we were all swimming well. From barely having any medals some years to having 50, I think that’s really amazing.”

John Bodden, the other co-captain, who returned home with four medals, was happy with the way the team gelled in the Bahamas. “This time we really got behind each other and we really brought it home.”

Co-captain Sarah Jackson with the third place trophy.

Sabine Ellison, who won three individual and two relay medals, echoed the team concept of success. “My relay medals mean a lot to me because I got to work with three other girls to try to win a medal for all of us,” she said.

Evidence of the strong team concept: most of the swimmers were hoarse when they returned home as a result of the constant cheering for their teammates during their events.

President of the Cayman Islands Amateur Swimming Association (CIASA), Michael Lockwood, praised those who competed in the championships.

“I’m very proud of the team in terms of their performance and it’s good to see that all their hard work has been paying off and that they’re at the level they want and need to be,” he said.

Lockwood described the swimmers’ feat as inspirational: “Even for the younger swimmers, who were probably watching the results from home because they can now get excited about being part of the team as they get older.”

Swimmers enjoy one last cheering session before they leave the airport.

 

Here’s a full breakdown of medals by swimmer (while each swimmer gets a relay medal, relay medals are counted once in the table)

11-12 GIRLS

Avery Lambert (7 individual and 2 relay)

Day One

  • 50m Backstroke BRONZE

Day Two

  • 200m Freestyle SILVER
  • 100m Backstroke GOLD
  • 400m IM SILVER

Day Three

  • 200m IM BRONZE

Day Four

  • 400m Freestyle SILVER
  • 200m Backstroke GOLD

Stephanie Royston (1 individual and 2 relay)

Day Three

  • 200m Butterfly GOLD

Relays

Day One

  • 4x100m Relay

Avery Lambert, Stephanie Royston, Raya Embury-Brown, Kyra Rabess: SILVER

Day Two

  • 4 X 100m Medley Relay

Avery Lambert, Sophie Ellison, Stephanie Royston, Raya Embury-Brown

 

11-12 BOYS

Corey Frederick-Westerborg (6 individual)

Day One

  • 100m Butterfly GOLD

Day Two

  • 200m Freestyle GOLD
  • 50m Butterfly SILVER

 

Day Three

  • 200m IM SILVER
  • 100M Freestyle GOLD

Day Four

  • 50m Freestyle BRONZE

 

13-14 GIRLS

Ria Plunkett (3 individual and 2 relay)

Day One

  • 800m Freestyle BRONZE

Day Four

  • 400m Freestyle BRONZE

Open Water

  • 5K BRONZE

Sabine Ellison (3 individual and 2 relay)

Day One

  • 200m Breaststroke BRONZE

Day Two

  • 400m IM SILVER

Day Three

  • 200m IM SILVER

Alison Jackson (3 individual and 2 relay)

Day Two

  • 200m Freestyle GOLD

Day Three

  • 100m Freestyle GOLD and CARIFTA record

Day Four

  • 50m Freestyle GOLD

Relay

Day One

  • 4x100m Relay

Ria Plunkett, Emily Link, Sabine Ellison, Alison Jackson: BRONZE

Day Three

  • 4 X 200M Relay

Alison Jackson, Emily Link, Ria Plunkett, Sabine Ellison SILVER

 

13-14 BOYS

Zachary Moore (5 individual)

Day One

  • 1500m Freestyle SILVER
  • 50m Backstroke BRONZE

Day Two

  • 200m Freestyle SILVER

Day Four

  • 400m Freestyle BRONZE
  • 200m Backstroke BRONZE

 

15-17 GIRLS

Sam Bailey (2 individual and 3 relay)

Day One

  • 1800m Freestyle BRONZE

Open Water

  • 5k BRONZE

Lauren Hew (8 individual and 3 relay)

Day One

  • 50m Backstroke GOLD
  • 100m Butterfly BRONZE

Day Two

  • 200m Freestyle GOLD
  • 200m IM SILVER
  • 100m Backstroke GOLD and CARIFTA record

Day Three

  • 100m Freestyle GOLD

Day Four

  • 400m Freestyle GOLD
  • 200m Backstroke GOLD

Relays

Day One

  • 4x100m Relay

Lauren Hew, Samantha Bailey, Sarah Jackson, Ella Plunkett: SILVER

Day Three

  • 4 X 200M Relay

Lauren Hew, Samantha Bailey, Sarah Jackson, Ella Plunkett SILVER

Day Four

  • 4 X 50M Relay

Samantha Bailey, Lauren Hew, Ella Plunkett, Sarah Jackson BRONZE

 

15-17 BOYS

John Bodden (3 individual and 1 relay)

Day One

  • 1500m Freestyle BRONZE

Day Three

  • 200m Butterfly BRONZE

Open Water

  • 5K SILVER

Eddie Weber (I individual and 1 relay)

Day Two

  • 400m IM BRONZE

Relays

Day Three

  • 4 X 200M Relay

Jonathon Key, Eddie Weber, Rory Barret, John Bodden SILVER

One Comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.