Malaria swim well supported

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Sea swimmers flexed themselves to the limit again last week.

An excellent turn out of 125 swim enthusiasts supported the Cayman edition of the ‘World Swim Against Malaria’.

It was the 21st edition of the Cable & Wireless 800m Sea Swim at Governor’s Beach on April 5. The swim also marked the opening of the Cayman Islands Amateur Swimming Association’s 2008 Open Water swim season.

A favourable southerly wind and a slight current to the north set the stage for a fast race, and many participants earned personal best times over the 800m distance.

Former Cayman Olympian Andrew Mackay was on hand to give Cayman’s CARIFTA swim–team members some competition for top–spot in the race, and CARIFTA gold medallist Seiji Groome rose to the challenge.

After race director Peter Mackay started the race, his son, Andrew and Groome sped through the water side by side setting a furious pace, but it was

Mackay narrowly pipped Groome by a hair–length at the end with a blistering time of 9 minutes 51 seconds. Joshua Bain was third. The second through ninth place finishers were made up of members of Cayman’s Carifta swim–team with Lara Butler being the first female across the line.

Mark Cummings and Brigitte Tomascik were the first male and female masters swimmers to finish with Cummings coming in an impressive tenth place, showing that not all masters swimmers suffer from arthritis.

CIASA organizers were pleased to see numerous new faces in the field, reflecting the growing popularity of Open Water swimming in the Cayman Islands.

Cable & Wireless CEO Tim Adam, an excellent swimmer in his own right, stayed after the race to award gold, silver and bronze medals to the younger swimmers, and gave an enthusiastic handshake of congratulations to the older swimmers.

Bill McFarland, race organiser, said: “Cable & Wireless generously agreed to forgo the awarding of medals to the remaining age groups in favour of making a considerable donation to the World Swim Against Malaria cause of US$500, which will be used to purchase 100 insecticidal bed–nets to prevent the spread of malaria in under–developed nations around the world.”

The next Open Water Sea Swim on the Cayman Islands Amateur Swimming Association’s calendar is the sixth annual Butterfield Bank 800m sea swim on Saturday, May10. Interested swimmers are urged to visit www.ciasa./">www.ciasa.ky for further information on this race.