Tough time on open water for Allan

By Cayman Sports Buzz
- Tweet
- Pin It
Updated: 10 August 2016

Photo courtesy: Allan V. Crane/CA-images

UPDATED:

It was a rough day in bad weather for Cayman’s Florence Allan at the Olympic Games Wednesday, 10 August as the women’s laser radial sailing event moved to the open ocean off Copacabana.

The first-time Olympian did not finish her two races in the allowed time and, as a result, recorded DNFs in both.

“However, we are extremely proud of her as she continued on with the intense weather conditions, waves of 4-5 feet and the last wind reading was 21.9 knots,” Cayman Islands Olympic Committee Press Representative, Jade Webster, stated in an email to the media.

“Florence is the lightest of the fleet making it every hard for her in the open ocean,” she added. The prior evening, Allan, 18, said she was going to try to eat as much ice-cream as possible to gain whatever weight she could overnight.

Allan declined to comment about Wednesday’s developments. Team Cayman’s Chef de Mission, Jennifer Powell offered the following statement on Allan’s performance:

“I was given the privilege of riding in the coaches boat for Florence’s competition yesterday. Her determination to finish both races despite terrible weather conditions at such a light weight was nothing short of impressive. A cold front came through and the wind, rain and cold air ripped through during her races. There were long periods of time that we couldn’t see her because of the wave height and rain, but she just kept pushing through to get it done. It was an emotional finish when she wasn’t able to complete in the allotted time but for her to finish after 6 hours total out in the open water is extremely commendable and we couldn’t be more proud of her effort and can’t wait to watch her finish on the August 12th and 13th.”

Thursday is a rest day for the event, with competition slated to resume on Friday.