Issue #126 - The February Floater

. February 2018 .

Finishing the Mercuryman Olympic Distance Triathlon - in First place of course!

 Hello!

February is done and dusted.  A varied month as far as things go for us, and a relatively short blog too by the looks!  A bit of racing - on land and in the water.  A teeny bit of travel and a smidgen of socialising.

Both Sam and Jake made the Cayman Swim Team for Carifta (Caribbean swim champs) which are being held in Jamaica over Easter.  This will be Sam's last year at this meet, as she will be too old next year!

Sam passed her practical driving test so is now loose on the roads of George Town.  It's quite handy actually, as we no longer have to get up at Sparrow Fart every morning to drop the kids to the pool for training.  We also have our own on-call taxi driver, which makes life a lot easier!

Jake, hanging out at Fidel Murphy's after an afternoon of raffle selling - to raise money for Carifta.

 Nationals

The Cayman Swim Nationals were held earlier in the month.  This was a four-day meet with morning sessions and then finals in the evening.  This is partly to help prepare the swimmers for Carifta where the same format is used.

Both put in some really good swims and had podium finishes in all events.  I think Jake won all of his races, and came second in one.  Can't complain about that!

Jake looking pumped for his next race!

 Both are generally middle to long distance freestylers with some fly thown in.  Jake has been improving with his Breast and Sam doing some decent swims with the IM as well.

Medal ceremony

Kiwis 1 & 2.

(Finn & Jake)

Jake gets interviewed by the local media

 By the end of sunday, the kids were pretty tired, but happy with their progress over the meet. Back into training for Carifta now!

Our mate Nick, who has been in Cayman for the last few months after being blown out of BVI during the Hurricanes last year.  Things are slowly coming back into shape there so Nick headed back last weekend, but not before a sneaky Mudslide at Sunset House!

  Freeport

You might recall that Dave and Jake have been heading to Freeport, Bahamas every year for the past 7 or so years for Rugby.  That trip is coming up in May. Over that time, some great friendships have been formed.  One of the guys was having his 50th last weekend, so Dave popped over for a surprise visit and good old catch-up with the Freeport gang. One could also say it was a reconnaisance for the upcoming May trip...

Some of the boys at Friday night's warm-up at Bones

With the Birthday Boy (Rob) and his son.

 It seemed that half of Freeport came out on Friday night for a few beers with Rob. Saturday (the official party) was no different!  It was a great time and good to catch up with the Freeport gang.

Dave managed to escape early on Sunday afternoon, and relatively unscathed, to catch his two short flights back to Cayman (via Miami).

How's that for a cake!

Meanwhile, Michelle was in the Girl's Off The Beaten Track Relay team for the umpteenth year.  This is where a random course is plotted across the island and covers all sorts of terrain which can include Iron Shore, Fences, cows, bush and generally unfamiliar roads and streets.

The course is only released to the runners a few days prior to the race, so there is always the chance that someone will get lost!

Made it!

I'm sure they only do it for the bubbles at the end!

The day before was the 5km Sea swim.  This was the last qualifying event for the Carifta meet.  Jake has already qualified, but still had his 5k title to defend, which he did.  He'll also be swimming the 5k in Jamaica, as well as a whole bunch of pool events.  Sam is sticking to the pool this year, although she did come away with a Bronze at Carifta in the 5k last year (Bahamas).

Our friend Leigh had her birthday last weekend and we went along to help celebrate! With our new Chauffer (Sam) we were off and running. 

Dave with Leigh's Dad who is over from the UK

The Ladies are looking good!

Smiles all round!

Well, believe it or not, that's our whack for February!

March might be a bit more lively.  Michelle and Dave are off to Vancouver this weekend for the Rugby Sevens, and will catch up with Russ and Tonya which will be a barrel of laughs!

The kids are being left in chanrge!