COLE BAY--Twenty members of the Carib Swim Team traveled to Coral Springs, Florida for a swimming competition, held February 7 to 9.
The young swimmers, aged 9 – 16 years, representing both sides of the island, performed admirably. For most of the athletes, it was their first time swimming in the U.S., or any foreign soil. Pulled along by the great depth of talent from the U.S. swimmers, CST swimmers were able to achieve a huge number of new best times, as well as new time standards met, including 17 new ‘BB’ times, 8 new ‘A’ times, 5 new ‘AA’ times and 3 new ‘AAA’ times.
Sacha Gibbs, 14, achieved a qualifying time for the CARIFTA (Caribbean Free Trade Association) championships, which will be held in April in Barbados. He will be joining Matias Piazza, 13, who had already qualified. Swimmers have until March 8 to qualify. CST will be hosting a local competition on March 7 – 8 which will act as a last chance qualifier for swimmers to qualify for CARIFTA. The meet will be held at Carib Swim Pool in Cole Bay.
This was the largest contingency of swimmers from Sint Maarten / St. Martin to travel abroad, showing a growing interest in competitive swimming on the island, as well as a drive to establish the island as a competitor on a regional basis and beyond.
