The U.S. Virgin Islands (ISV) swim team had a strong finish after day one of competition at the 2018 Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games on Friday, ending with several athletes advancing to medal rounds and a new U.S. Virgin Islands record, according a release issued Saturday.<\/p>\n
Team ISV advanced to the men\u2019s 200m butterfly final, and automatically advanced to the men\u2019s 4x200m freestyle relay final. Carter Maltby, 15, also advanced to the women\u2019s 400m freestyle final. All three finals were completed the same day, the release says.<\/p>\n
Though they did not medal in their finals appearances, Frank Odlum, president of the USVI Swimming Federation, said he was very pleased with the team\u2019s overall performance, especially since most swimmers dropped seconds off their best times.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe tell the kids all the time that they\u2019re racing themselves, so each one of them dropped time and made improvements,\u201d Odlum said. \u2018They just swam at the [Central American and Caribbean Amateur Swimming Confederation Championships] two weeks ago, so to drop time from just two weeks back\u2014we\u2019re very pleased with that.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the men\u2019s 4x200m freestyle relay team members, Adriel Sanes, 19, said he felt comfortable going into today\u2019s competition. \u201cIt was a good start to the meet. I felt good in the water, so as the days go on I know it\u2019ll be even better,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Matthew Mays, 19, made a lifetime best and broke his own Virgin Islands record in the men\u2019s 200m butterfly with a time of 2:05.48 in his first heat. He said the team is used to long meets such as this and warming up, rolling out, and keeping your body in racing condition is key.<\/p>\n
Webster Bozzo, 18, was proud to drop a second off his best time in the men\u2019s 100m freestyle, with a time of 53.30, in his first ever CAC Games appearance, according to the release.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a first time, big swim meet for me like this so it was kind of nerve wrecking at first, but when I got out there it was just amazing,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of a once in a lifetime thing you get to do.\u201d Moving forward through the next few days of competition, Odlum said Team ISV is ready and anxious to get in the pool.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust the fact that they meet the qualifications to come, they don\u2019t need any motivation. They train more than ten hours a week. They are there every day except Sunday training [at home],\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s easy. We don\u2019t have to motivate them, we don\u2019t have to coax them, they want to come.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Friday overall, Team ISV competed in the mixed 4x100m medley relay, men\u2019s 4x200m freestyle relay, men\u2019s 200m butterfly, men\u2019s 100m freestyle, women\u2019s 50m backstroke, and women\u2019s 400m freestyle.<\/p>\n
Individuals can follow the games and the status of Team ISV athletes competing at www.baranquilla2018.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The U.S. Virgin Islands (ISV) swim team had a strong finish after day one of competition at the 2018 Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games on Friday, ending with several athletes advancing to medal rounds and a new U.S. Virgin Islands record, according a release issued Saturday. Team ISV advanced to the men\u2019s 200m butterfly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":65386,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[191,1825,147],"tags":[33,3293,121],"yoast_head":"\n