. February 2014 .
Hey there!
February has whizzed on by. And on reflection we didn't actually do a lot. Well, we did, but it was pretty much the same thing all month. February was a busy month in the pool. Sam went to Jamaica for a swim meet. Then the following week there was the Cayman National Swim Champs with a couple of other minor activities thrown in.
Jamaica
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| The Team in Jamaica with National Director of Swimming, Bailey Weathers (Too many Bailey's around here now!) |
A massive team of four swimmers from Stingray popped over the Kingston for a swim meet early in the month. The reason for the small team is that the four that went were all going to miss the main Jamaica swim meet being held two weeks later as they would be away elsewhere on school trips. And they needed to swim some good times in a 50m pool. Unfortunately Cayman doesn't have a 50m pool... but that's another story.
Michelle went along as Tour Manager and the Technical Director went along to coach the kids. There were two other parents there to support the kids, taking the team to a total of 4 kids and 4 adults! The kids swam really well with Ella getting her first Carifta qualifying times, and Sam being very close to some additional ones. The team did pretty well overall for such a small team.
Sunday afternoon was the only chance they got to relax and they took the opportunity to get a huge ice-cream and play cards at a nearby park. They sparked the interest of an old musician who spent a bit of time with them showing them card tricks - the kids' jaws kept dropping - they just couldn't see how he was getting those cards to change places right in front of them! He was absolutely brilliant and then they spent the rest of the afternoon trying to figure out how to do the tricks too. We later went for dinner at Usain Bolt's restaurant, Tracks and Records, which was a pretty cool sports bar, before heading back to the airport bound for home again.
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| Enthusiasm and fun are two of the important factors in Stingray's competitive swimming ethos. |
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| "Where's Usain Bolt's Bar?" "It's thataway!" |
Island Air Party
The annual Island Air party is one of the big social events of the year around here, and if you aren't on the invite list, then.... then I guess you won't be going! There were about 1300 people invited this year to the showcase of Private Jets, Planes, Boats mixed in with fashion, jewelry, Boxing and a few beers, Rums and bubbles just to add to the fun. We managed to sneak past security and mix and mingle with the rich and famous.
The local boxing association put on some demo bouts which were very entertaining. Some were very new kids to the sport having a good crack. There were also a few more experienced fighters putting on a good show as well.
Dave and a mate were watching one of the fights. It was a couple of novices. They decided to cheer for the guy in the red but didn't know his name. So they asked the trainer. He said "Roger".
"Go Roger!" they screamed.
Roger who had apparently never had anyone cheer for him before, turned is head to see who it was. Only to cop an awesome right-hand punch to the side of the head from his opponent. Ooops!
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| The guy with the Fro is apparently heading to the Commonwealth Games to box for Cayman. |
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| The Bubbles are working! |
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| Checking out the ride. |
Cayman Islands National Swim Champs
The kids have been in training over the last little while, building up for the first ever Cayman Nationals. The structure was to mimic the Carifta (Caribbean) Champs - it was spread over four days, with prelims in the morning and finals at night. The kids still had to go to school in the middle, which they obviously don't do at Carifta! It was good experience for them - Jake had never had to do prelims and finals and he did pretty well, doing quite a few PBs and hauling in a few medals, including double gold in the Butterfly 50 and 100m. Sam had an amazing meet - pulling out some surprise big PBs, and unexpectedly took the gold in the 200 IM, going in seeded 3rd. She made two more Carifta times and was very close to a 3rd one.
Michelle had been putting in a few sessions as well hoping to do OK in the Masters section. She swam 100 and 200 Free and did PBs as well (ok, so they were not lifetime bests but they were the fastest times she's done as a master swimmer so she was happy with that!)
Another successful swimming weekend for all!
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| Michelle also officiates at the meets. Sometimes Stroke judge, Turn Judge, or Admin Referee. Here she helps with the lap count for the 800 and 1500m races. Pretty hard for the swimmers to keep count when in a 25m pool! |
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| Jake did an awesome 50 Fly on the opening night. National Champ! |
Not to be outdone, Sam let rip in the 200 IM in a very closely fought race with her mate Ella.
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| 200 IM National Champ! |
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| Jake studies the pool prior to a race |
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| He's off! |
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| Sam, on the way to more success! |
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| These three seemed to take turns with the golden finishes. |
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| Jake's relay team takes out the national title! |
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| The kids have some laughs between races |
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| Jake takes out the 100 Fly as well. Machine! |
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| Not the game face. |
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| Game face is on... |
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| Game face is definitely not on... |
Waitangi Day
Waitangi days is always a fun day for the Kiwis here. There are actually quite a few when you get them all together. The trouble is getting them all together!
While Michelle and Sam were over in Kingston, Jamaica, Dave and Jake went along to the Kiwi Spit Roast party for a few beers with the bros aye! There was a bunch of Kiwis there and it was a pretty good family-type laze-around-on-the-lawn atmosphere.
There was a lamb on a spit plus a few other goodies. Some donated raffle prizes consisted of NZ Wine, Tee Shirts, Marmite and Jaffas. There are always a few New Kiwis that show up so it's nice getting to know them and swapping stories about life back in NZ, and also comparing differences with life overseas.
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| Jake ran the bar... Surf's Up! |
We didn't get down the beach very much this month. Too busy at swim meets. But Jake did manage one Sunday morning session where the surf wasn't too bad!
So, that's about it for this month. A little quieter than usual. It will pick up again though as we will be reporting on our very first weekend in March which involved the family all heading in different directions - one kid going to Jamaica for a swim meet, another traveling to Washington for a school trip and Michelle & Dave popping over the Little Cayman for a childless weekend!
The National Winter Touch League also starts.
Gaelic is up and running again.
Surprise, surprise, there might even be another swim meet!
We eagerly await the announcement of the Cayman Islands 2014 Swim Squad for Carifta, which will be held in Aruba this year. Fingers crossed for Sam! Jake is not eligible because of his age, maybe next year?
Not sure what else is going on in March but there's bound to be something!
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