The Virgin Islands Swimming Delegation was represented by 13 swimmers and two officials at the XXI Caribbean Islands Swimming Championships (CISC) 2016, held in Nassau, Bahamas, June 29 through July 2. Swimmers representing the V.I. included: Audrey Moore (11), Casey Vanderwall (11), Max Wilson (11), Erin Andrews (12), Carter Maltby (13), Nati Kuipers (13), Lidia Boguslawska (14), Jonathan Thomas (17), Webster Bozzo (17), Matthew Mays (17), Adriel Sanes (17), JJ Washshah (19) and Greg Penny (24).
They were accompanied by H. John Vasbinder, head coach, and Cinthia Sanes, team manager. The meet was attended by over 500 athletes from 33 countries in hopes of qualifying for the Olympics Games 2016. Overall, the meet was very successful for all V.I. swimmers, qualifying for finals and scoring points for the team. Preliminary sessions took place each morning and final sessions took place each evening.
Highlights of the meet:
Three New Relay Records:
New V.I. record in the 800m freestyle relay 11-12 girls age group category — Erin Andrews, Casey Vanderwall, Carter Maltby and Audrey Moore — with a time of 10:10.29
New V.I. record in the 800m freestyle relay 15-17 boys age group category — Matthew Mays, Webster Bozzo, Jonathan Thomas and Adriel Sanes — with a time: 8:08.2, improving their previous record of 8:16.05 set in the Carifta Games 2016.
New V.I. record 400 medley relay 15-17 boys age group category — Webster Bozzo, Adriel Sanes, Matthew Mays and Jonathan Thomas — with a time of 3:59.44, improving their previous record of 4:04.46 set in the Carifta Games 2016.
Eight New Individual V.I. Records:
JJ Washshah set a new VI record in the open category 50m Backstroke with a 31.93—improving her previous record.
Matthew Mays set new V.I. records in the 15-17 boys age group category 50m backstroke with a 27.53 and in the 50m butterfly with a 26.51, improving his previous records.
Adriel Sanes set V.I. records in the 15-17 boys age group category 50m breaststroke with a 29.75, in the 100m breaststroke with a 1:05.15 and in the 200m breaststroke with a 2:19.50, setting a new Caribbean Islands Swimming Championship Meet record in this event. He also set new V.I. records in the 200IM with a 2:09.93, which was previously record held from 2007 by Brandon Whitehurst, and in the 50m free with a 24.37-previous record held from 2003 by Laurent Alfred.
Medal count for the V.I.: 13 total (3 gold, 4 silver, and 6 bronze)
Adriel Sanes: 5 total (1 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze)
Matthew Mays: 4 total (1 gold, 3 bronze)
Nati Kuipers: 1 total (1 gold)
JJ Washshah: 1 total (1 bronze)
Max Wilson: 1 total (1 bronze)-one of our younger swimmers and first time CISC meet participant.
Relay 15-17 Boys: 1 total (1 silver; Matthew Mays, Adriel Sanes, Webster Bozzo and Jonathan Thomas)
For full results of the CISC 2016, contact Coach John Vasbinder at 244-7657 and/or Cinthia Sanes at 719-7946/ email stcroixdolphins@gmail.com or jvasbinder@live.com.
Anyone who would like to be a part of this rewarding sport, please contact the Dolphins Swim Team on St. Croix at 719-7946 or e-mail at stcroixdolphins@gmail.com. On St. Thomas, contact the Stingrays Swim Team at 779-7872 or e-mail at info@sttswimming.org
